Canada's main stock index futures were little changed on Thursday as investors assessed a raft of quarterly earnings.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index finished stronger by 67.56 points to 15,269.66. September futures inched ahead 0.03% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.21 cents to 79.35 U.S. early Thursday
Canadian Natural Resources, posted a higher quarterly profit that topped Street estimates and said it would cut capital expenditure for the year by about $180 million, becoming the latest oil and gas company to do so. The stock trades in Toronto under the symbol CNQ.
Enbridge Inc., North America's largest pipeline operator, reported a quarterly profit that more than tripled, helped partly by its purchase of natural gas pipeline company Spectra Energy Corp.
Home Capital Group reported a bigger-than-expected second-quarter loss on Wednesday but said issues relating to its ability to continue as a going concern had been resolved.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Cineplex to $51.00 from $59.00
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Imperial Oil to $36.00 from $40.00
National Bank of Canada cut the target price on Trinidad Drilling to $2.60 from $3.25
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.04 points Wednesday to 769.07
ON WALLSTREET
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell seven points to 21,950. Futures for the S&P 500 stepped down 1.5 points, or 0.1%, to 2,472. NASDAQ futures gained 6.75 points, or 0.1%, to 5,917.50
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Thursday, a day after the Dow Jones industrial average broke the 22,000 milestone for the first time ever.
Investors will once again focus on earnings after Tesla posted better-than-expected results. The stock shot up 6% on the news.
U.S. equities are set to take a breather while investors digest more earnings and new data releases. Allergan and Kellogg are among the companies due to report before the bell. Heinz, Motorola Solutions, Viacom and Western Union will report after the bell.
In terms of data, there will be jobless claims numbers out at 8:30 a.m. in New York, PMI Services Index out at 9:45 a.m, factory orders at 10 a.m. and Fed Balance Sheet figures at 4:30 p.m.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 in Japan dipped 0.3%, and Shanghai’s CSI 300 slumped 0.9%.
Oil prices gained 18 cents to $49.77 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices fell $4.60 to $1,273.80 U.S. an ounce.
