Futures for Canada's main stock index were little changed on Friday as investors took in inflation and retail sales data.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 65.61 points to end Thursday’s session at 16,543.01
The Canadian dollar gained 0.2 cents at 75.58 cents U.S. early Friday
September futures backtracked 0.02% Friday
Nanaimo, B.C.-based medical marijuana company Tilray Inc. rose more than 35% in its U.S. trading debut on Thursday after raising about $153 million in an initial public offering that was priced above the marketing range, indicating strong investor appetite.
CIBC raised the target price on Black Diamond Group to $2.75 from $1.50
CIBC raised the rating on Pine Cliff Energy to neutral from underperform
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that the consumer price index rose 2.5% on a year-over-year basis in June, following a 2.2% increase in May.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, inflation was up 0.1% in June, matching the increase in May.
Moreover, retail sales hiked 2.0% in May to $50.8 billion, following a 0.9% decline in April. The agency says sales rose in eight of 11 sub-sectors, representing 70% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 4.41 points Thursday to 713.17.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures declined after President Donald Trump said he is ready to put tariffs on every Chinese good coming to the U.S. if necessary.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 77 points, or 0.3%, to 24,982.
S&P 500 futures faded 3.75 points, or 0.1%, to 2,801.50, while futures for the NASDAQ composite took on 13.25 points, or 0.2%, to 7,381
Trump told the media he’s "ready to go to 500". Futures fell to their lows after the airing of his interview Friday morning New York time.
The S&P 500 was up 31% since Trump's win in 2016 through Thursday. The market's gain has slowed this year as the Trump administration implemented new tariffs on countries with the S&P 500 up 4.9% for 2018 through Thursday. The tariffs have raised concern in the market about a potential slowdown in global economic growth.
The Trump administration has already slapped tariffs on $34 billion worth of goods coming from China, to which the Chinese have retaliated with charges of their own. Trump had also previously threatened to put levies on $200 billion worth in goods.
Earnings season continued on Friday with General Electric reporting a slightly better-than-expected profit for the second quarter. The company also reaffirmed its financial outlook for the year, sending its stock up more than 1%.
Baker Hughes shares fell nearly 5% as its earnings per share and revenue for the previous quarter came in below Wall Street estimates.
Microsoft, meanwhile, rose 3.6% after issuing strong revenue guidance.
So far, about 16.4% of S&P 500 companies have released their latest quarterly results, with 83% of them topping analyst expectations. Wall Street has high expectations for this earnings season, with analysts expecting earnings growth of 20%.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.3%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index moved ahead 0.8%.
Oil prices gained 41 cents to $69.87 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices notched ahead 50 cents to $1,224.50 U.S. an ounce.
