Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Thursday as oil prices rose on prospects of a global supply shortfall due to U.S. sanctions on major crude exporter Iran.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended Wednesday 9.78 points above breakeven to 16,169.28
The Canadian dollar fell back 0.19 cents to 76.51 cents U.S. early Thursday
December futures gained 0.1% Thursday
Cenovus Energy said on Wednesday that it had signed three-year deals with Canada's two major railways to transport roughly 100,000 barrels per day of crude from Northern Alberta to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
JP Morgan raised the price target on Pembina Pipeline to $57.00 from $55.00
BMO raised rating on Cameco Corp. to outperform, raises price target to $16.00 from $14.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $997 in July, a decrease of 0.4% from the previous month. Compared with 12 months earlier, earnings increased 3.0%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 1.5 points Wednesday to 707.18
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures fluctuated ahead of Thursday's open as investors digested the latest monetary-policy decision by the Federal Reserve.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 12 points, or 0.1%, to 26,434
S&P 500 futures edged 2.5 points, or 0.1%, to 2,914, while futures for the NASDAQ composite acquired 22 points, or 0.3%, to 7,612.25
Accenture and Conagra Brands are among the firms reporting earnings Thursday.
The moves in U.S. futures come after Wall Street closed Wednesday's session lower, after the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) concluded its September policy meeting. The Fed hiked its benchmark interest rate by a quarter-point and announced that an additional hike was projected by year-end, and that three more were penciled-in for 2019.
Markets came under pressure, with U.S. bond yields dropping, after Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that he didn't see inflation surprising to the upside.
Meanwhile, President Trump criticized Canada for the slow pace of discussions concerning the overhaul of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The president said he had recently vetoed Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's invitation for a one-on-one meeting — a claim that prompted a spokesman of Trudeau's government to state that no such meeting had been requested. Trump did agree, however, to start trade talks with Japan.
In data, jobless claims, durable goods, and advanced economic indicators are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET. At the same time, another reading of real gross domestic product (GDP) data will be published. At 10 a.m. ET, pending home sales are due, followed by the Kansas City Fed's
manufacturing survey at 11 a.m. ET.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 settled 1% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng retreated 0.4%.
Oil prices gained 76 cents at $72.33 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $1.90 to $1,197.20 U.S. an ounce.
