Futures pointed to a modestly higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Friday as investors digested the monthly jobs report.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index tumbled 73.67 points to finish Thursday at 15,191.96. September futures nicked up 0.02% Friday.
The Canadian dollar skidded 0.04 cents to 79.5 cents U.S. early Friday
Nebraska regulators weighing the fate of TransCanada Corp’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline have ruled that opponents of the project cannot use one of their best arguments against it in final hearings next week: that America does not need the oil.
National Bank raised the target price on Canadian Natural Resources to $49.00 from $47.00
Barclays raised the target price on IGM Financial by 5% to $41.00
National Bank cut the target price on SNC-Lavalin Group to $69.00 from $70.00
It’s a busy Friday on the economic calendar, ahead of a long weekend in much of Canada. The economy created 11,000 jobs during July, dropping the jobless rate two-10ths of a percentage point to 6.3%, the lowest rate since October 2008, just prior to the onset of the 2008-2009 labour market downturn.
Analysts expected a jump of 10,000 jobs and an unemployment rate at 6.5%.
Elsewhere, Canada's merchandise trade balance with the world posted a $3.6 billion deficit in June, widening from a $1.4-billion deficit in May. Exports fell 4.3% while imports edged up 0.3%.
The trade gap was expected to have widened slightly to $1.35 billion in June.
Finally, Western University’s IVEY School of Business is out at 10 a.m. EDT with its Purchasing Managers’ Index for July.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 2.8 points Thursday to 766.50
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday on better-than-expected employment data.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 64 points, or 0.3%, to 22,038. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 3.5 points, or 0.1%, to 2,475.25. NASDAQ futures hiked 9.25 points, or 0.2%, to 5,899.25
The U.S. economy added 209,000 jobs last month, according to the Labor Department, well above the expected gain of 183,000. The unemployment rate dipped to 4.3%, a 16-year low.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 in Japan faded 0.4%, and Shanghai’s CSI 300 dropped 0.5%.
Oil prices slid 26 cents to $48.77 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices tumbled $6.90 to $1,267.50 U.S. an ounce.
