Futures for Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, as oil prices gained after a report from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) showed its production fell sharply last month.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index spiked 99.96 points to close Thursday at 15,211.22, its 10th straight winning session. The index has gained nearly 900 points since the start of 2019
The Canadian dollar gained 0.07 cents at 75.36 cents U.S. early Friday
March futures galloped 0.5% Friday.
Bombardier is reportedly making progress resolving problems with double-decker passenger trains, which have drawn criticism from buyer Swiss Federal Railways.
RBC cut the price target on Husky Energy to $19.00 from $20.00
RBC cut the price target on Trevali Mining to $0.60 from $1.00.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investment in this country acquired $9.5 billion of Canadian securities in November, mainly bonds.
Meanwhile, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $4.1 billion as they sold U.S. shares. The agency says the divestment in foreign securities was the largest in a year and followed two strong months of acquisitions.
Elsewhere, the agency’s Consumer Price Index rose 2.0% on a year-over-year basis in December, following a 1.7% increase in November. On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, inflation rose 0.2% in December.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 3.41 points Thursday to 594.63.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday morning as investors digested reports that the Trump administration could reduce tariffs imposed on China.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average leaped 154 points, or 0.6%, to 24,475
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 11.5 points, or 0.4%, to 2,646.75
NASDAQ futures jumped 31.25 points, or 0.5%, to 6,751.25
The stock market ended on a positive note on Thursday after the Wall Street Journal reported that the U.S. could ease trade tariffs against China. The suggestion reportedly came from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, but faced pushback from U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.
Wall Street rallied on the news but pared some of those gains after a senior government official told the media that Mnuchin had not made any such recommendations.
Shares of Tesla were getting slammed in the pre-market after CEO Elon Musk said the automaker is cutting its full-time staff headcount by about 7%, as it looks to ramp up production of its Model 3 sedans.
Money managers were also following U.S. politics as the government shutdown continues into its 28th day.
Meanwhile, with the earnings season in full swing, investors will be watching out for results from Schlumberger, State Street, and SunTrust.
In terms of economic data, there will be industrial production figures out at 9:15 a.m. ET and consumer sentiment numbers due at 10 a.m. ET.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 vaulted 1.3% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index also grew 1.3%
Oil prices gained 71 cents to $52.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $7.70 to $1,284.60 U.S. an ounce.
