Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada's main stock index on Thursday ahead of jobs reports on both sides of the border.
The S&P/TSX Composite closed up 89.57 points Wednesday to 14,610.58. December futures were down 0.1% Thursday morning.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.09 cents to 75.76 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Britain's SVG Capital reportedly accepted an offer from Goldman Sachs and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board on Thursday, saying it gave shareholders a better return than a hostile bid from U.S. private equity rival HarbourVest.
RBC raised the rating on Air Canada to top pick from outperform
J.P. Morgan raised the target price on Canadian National Railway to $90.00 from $87.00
TD Securities initiated coverage on Timbercreek Financial with a buy rating, $9.00 target price
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that municipalities issued - $7.3 billion worth of building permits in August, up 10.4% from July. This marked the second consecutive monthly increase.
The agency went on to say the gain in August was mainly attributable to higher construction intentions in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange hiked 11.69 points, or 1.5%, to 778.50
ON WALL STREET
U.S. stock futures were slightly lower before U.S. markets opened for business Thursday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faded 39 points, or 0.2%, to 18,161, while futures for the S&P 500 lost 4.5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,148.75. NASDAQ futures dropped 9.25 points, or 0.2%, at 4,864.25
Twitter shares were poised to open down 10% in New York after Recode reported that potential suitors Google and Disney have decided not to make offers for social media platform. Apple also appears to be an unlikely bidder.
On the earnings front, Helen of Troy and Ruby Tuesday are set to report after the bell.
Investors in the U.S. can look forward to the weekly report on jobless claims, out before the opening bell.
European markets are mixed in early trading, with EasyJet's earnings weighing on the FTSE 100. Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 were both sightly higher.
Asian markets ended in positive territory. Hong Kong led the charge with a 0.7% gain.
Oil prices eked out a gain of 25 cents to $50.08 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices faded $2.60 to $1,266 U.S. an ounce.
