Futures for Canada's main stock index dropped on Thursday, as fears of the economic impact of a globally spreading coronavirus weighed down oil prices.
The TSX Composite Index nosed up 10.87 points to close Wednesday at 17,511.75
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.12 cents early Thursday to 75.63 cents U.S.
March futures dumped 0.5% early Thursday.
CIBC raised the price target on Canadian Pacific Railway to $380 from $365
CIBC cut the rating on Fortis to neutral from outperform.
National Bank of Canada raised the price target on to $148.00 from $139.00
Countries have started isolating hundreds of citizens evacuated from the Chinese city of Wuhan to stop the spread of the epidemic that has killed 170 people.
All eyes were on the World Health Organization, which hasn't declared the flu-like coronavirus a global emergency, but was to reconsider its position later in the day.
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada said the average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees were $1,042 in November, little changed from October.
On a year-over-year basis, earnings grew 3.1%, continuing an upward trend observed since March
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange took on 1.86 points Wednesday, to 577.49.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures fell sharply on Thursday as the death toll from the coronavirus continues to rise in China, stoking fears about the virus’ impact on global economic growth
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slumbered 218 points, or 0.8%, early Thursday to 28,492.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 27.5 points, or 0.3%, at 3,245.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite hesitated 64.25 points, or 0.7%, to 9,034.25.
Airline stocks such as American, Delta and United all fell more than 1% in the pre-market. Casino stocks Las Vegas Sands and Wynn Resorts dropped 2.1% and 1.9%, respectively. Expedia and Carnival shares were down by 3% and 7.5%, respectively.
Caterpillar, a bellwether for global the global economy, was down 1.2%.
Wall Street was also under pressure after Facebook reported quarterly results that showed a sharp rise in expenses and narrowing margins. Facebook shares fell more than 7% in the pre-market.
Tesla enjoyed a second consecutive quarterly profit on record vehicle deliveries and vowed to produce over 500,000 units this year, sending the stock surging by 11.5%. Microsoft beat Wall Street expectations on fourth-quarter sales and profit on the back of strong cloud revenue.
China’s National Health Commission confirmed Thursday that the death toll has hit 170, with confirmed cases of the virus surpassing 7,700. Cases have also been confirmed in places outside of China, including the U.S.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.7% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dwindled 2.6%
Oil prices ditched $1.22 to $52.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices popped $9.20 to $1,585.20 U.S. an ounce.
