Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada’s main stock index on Thursday after fresh trade tensions between the United States and China surfaced.
The TSX Composite Index jumped 83.29 points to conclude Wednesday trading at 16,501.43
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.02 cents to 75.93 cents U.S. early Thursday
December futures were down 0.3% early Thursday.
Bombardier used more cash than analysts had expected in the third quarter as it ramped up production of its flagship Global 7500 business jet and pushed back some train deliveries.
Cenovus Energy reported a quarterly profit compared to a loss a year earlier, as it benefited from higher crude prices because of government-imposed production curbs and a tight leash on costs.
Thomson Reuters reported higher-than-expected quarterly operating profit on Thursday and affirmed its 2019 and 2020 estimates.
Suncor Energy reported third-quarter profit on Wednesday, just shy of estimates as weak business environment and higher operating and transportation expenses dented the second-largest Canadian oil and gas producer’s margins.
CIBC cut the target price on Genworth MI Canada to $56.00 from $57.00
Scotiabank cut the target price on Maple Leaf Foods to $35.00 from $42.50
Scotiabank raised the target price on Quebecor to $37.00 from $36.00
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada reported that real gross domestic product edged up 0.1% in August, following no change in July.
Goods-producing industries were up 0.2% after two months of declines, led by a rebound in manufacturing, while services-producing industries edged up 0.1%.
Overall, there were gains in 14 out of 20 industrial sectors.
The agency’s Industrial Product Price Index edged down 0.1% in September, primarily as a result of lower prices for meat, fish and dairy products.
The Raw Materials Price Index was unchanged from August. Higher prices for crude energy products were mostly offset by lower prices for animals and animal products.
Finally, the average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,035 in August, up 0.6% from July. StatsCan added that, compared with August 2018, earnings increased by 2.9%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange was unchanged Wednesday at 538.25
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures turned lower on Thursday after a report raised doubt about a long-term U.S.-China trade deal.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials retreated 73 points, or 0.3%, early Thursday to 27,059
Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 8.75 points at 3,039
NASDAQ Composite fell 15 points, or 0.2%, to 8,096.25
Media reports Thursday had Chinese officials casting doubt over the possibility of a long-term trade deal with the U.S.
The report sent stock futures tumbling after they were trading higher. Trade bellwether Caterpillar slipped 0.9% while Micron Technology shares were down 1.1% in the pre-market.
Stock futures had also gotten a boost earlier in the session from Apple and Facebook, which traded higher on better-than-expected earnings.
Apple shares rose 1.7% after the tech giant posted earnings per share of $3.03 on revenue of $64 billion. Analysts expected a profit of $2.84 per share on sales of $62.99 billion. The company’s iPhone and services revenues also topped estimates.
Facebook, meanwhile, climbed more than 4% after the social-media company reported a profit of $2.12 per share, topping an estimate of $1.91 per share. Facebook also reported stronger-than-expected average revenue per user.
So far, two thirds of the S&P 500 have reported quarterly numbers. Of those companies, 75% posted better-than-expected results, FactSet data shows.
In other corporate news, Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler (FCA) is set to report earnings Thursday after announcing a landmark merger with French rival PSA Peugeot Citroen, which will create the world’s fourth-largest car maker.
FCA will pay its shareholders a 5.5-billion-euro ($6.1-billion U.S.) special dividend and the two companies will join forces through a 50-50 share swap. The new company’s shares will be listed in New York, Paris and Milan.
A slew of economic data is due early Thursday, including PCE (personal consumption expenditure) price index and Core PCE price index figures, along with personal income and spending. Figures are also expected on wages and the latest weekly jobless claims.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gained 0.4% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index leaped 0.9%,
Oil prices fell 76 cents to $54.30 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $10.60 to $1,507.30 U.S. an ounce.
