Futures for Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, as oil prices rose on falling U.S. crude inventories.
The TSX Composite Index dipped 43.22 points to close Wednesday at 17,031.98
The Canadian dollar retreated 0.03 cents U.S. to 76.22 cents early Thursday
December futures were 0.1 % Thursday.
Endeavour Mining urged Centamin to seek an extension for a deadline by which it needs to make a firm offer to buy the London-listed miner.
Aurora Cannabis this week became the first major Canadian company to sell edibles and vapes for medical use, a small base that nevertheless helps shore up margins and paves the way for sales in the much larger European medical market.
CIBC raised the price target on SNC-Lavalin Group to $36.00 from $29.00,
Cannacord Genuity raised the price target on Teranga Gold to $11.50 from $9.00
Deutsche Bank raised the price target on TMX Group to $129 from $121
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported wholesale sales declined 1.1% to $64.2 billion in October, the second decrease in five months.
Also, the average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,042 in October, little changed from September. Compared with October 2018, earnings grew 3.3%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 4.84 points Wednesday to 538.71
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures were slightly higher Thursday morning.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained five points Thursday to 28,286
Futures for the S&P 500 sagged 2.5 points, or 0.1%, at 3,196.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite lost four points, or 0.1% to 8,616.75.
In corporate news, Accenture, Darden Restaurants, and FactSet are among some of the companies set to report earnings before the opening bell. Nike, AAR and Scholastic will report their latest quarterly figures after market close.
On the data front, the latest weekly jobless claims figures, Philadelphia Fed manufacturing numbers for December, and third-quarter current account data will all be released at 8:30 a.m. ET. Existing home sales data for November and leading index figures for November will both be released slightly later in the session.
Market focus is largely attuned to political developments in Washington, after the Democrat-led House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Trump became only the third president to be charged with high crimes and misdemeanors and will now face a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Market reaction has been relatively muted, as investors widely expect the Senate to vote against Trump’s removal from office.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 slipped 0.3% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index also lost 0.3%.
Oil prices sank 14 cents at $60.79 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid 30 cents to $1,478.40 U.S. an ounce.
