Futures for Canada's main stock index were little changed on Friday as investors stayed on the sidelines ahead of jobs data in Canada and the United States.
The S&P/TSX Composite added 125.97 points to close Thursday at 16,574.81
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.02 cents to 75.62 cents U.S. early Friday
September futures inched up 0.02% Friday.
More than two dozen oil companies wrote to Canada's energy regulator on Thursday to support or oppose it intervening in Enbridge 's contentious proposal to overhaul shipping contracts on the Mainline pipeline network.
CannTrust Holdings said on Thursday it is cutting its workforce by 20%, or 180 people, following Health Canada's investigation into the company's non-compliance in its operations.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $91.00 from $90.00
CIBC raised the target price on Empire Company to $39.00 from $34.00
CIBC cut the rating on Trevali Mining to underperform from neutral
On the economics beat, Statistics Canada reported our economy created 81,000 jobs during August, largely in part-time work. The unemployment rate remained at 5.7% as more people participated in the labour market.
Later on this morning (10 a.m. EDT), Western University’s IVEY School of Business issues its Purchasing Managers Index for August
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 6.67 points, or 1.1%, Thursday to 586.26
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures edged higher on Friday morning as investors digested key monthly non-farm payroll numbers.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 118 points, or 0.9%, early Friday to 26,819
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 12.5 points, or 0.4%, at 2,984.50
NASDAQ Composite futures gathered 24.75 points, or 0.3%, to 7,880.25
Canadian athletic apparel maker Lululemon Athletica Inc reported better-than-expected second-quarter revenue and profit on Thursday and raised its annual forecasts, buoyed by strength in its online and menswear businesses.
Brady Corporation and Genesco Inc. are among other companies reporting earnings Friday.
Just before press time, came word from the U.S. Labor Department that the economy created 130,000 jobs in August. Economists polled by Dow Jones expected a rise of 150,000 jobs last month.
The report will follow strong private payrolls data released by ADP and Moody’s Analytics on Thursday. U.S. private payrolls increased at their fastest pace in four months in August, the data showed.
The numbers came amid speculation that the decade-long economic expansion is coming to an end. The New York Federal Reserve puts the chance of a recession at 39% in the next 12 months, the highest level since the Great Recession that ended in mid-2009.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 surged 0.5% Friday, while in the Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index improved 0.7%.
Oil prices settled 77 cents to $55.53 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $12.00 to $1,513.50 U.S. an ounce.
