Futures for stocks in Canada’s largest market inched higher on Monday following gains in oil prices, with Brent touching the highest in five months, due to a cut in Abu Dhabi crude supplies.
The TSX docked 25.7 points to finish Friday at 16,705.79. However, for the last week, the index headed north 188 points, or 1.14%,
The Canadian dollar forged up 0.09 cents Monday to 76.60 cents U.S.
September futures nosed up 0.1% Monday.
Abu Dhabi National Oil Company told its customers it will reduce October supplies by 30%, as directed by the United Arab Emirates government to meet its commitment on the recent OPEC+ agreement.
Canaccord Genuity starts coverage on Skeena Resources with speculative buy rating; target price of $5.00
Scotiabank raises the target price on Canadian Western Bank to $29.00 from $25.00
Scotiabank cuts target price on CapREIT to $56.25 from $56.75
On the economic front, Statistics Canada says its industrial product price index rose 0.7% in July, driven primarily by higher prices for energy and petroleum products and primary non-ferrous metal products.
The Raw Materials Price Index increased 3.0%, mainly as a result of higher prices for crude energy products.
The agency also said building permits building permits fell in number 3.0% to $7.8 billion in July, mainly as a result of declines in British Columbia and Quebec.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 13.35 points, or 1.8%, to end Friday at 745.31, prospering 15 points on the week, or 2.05%.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures rose Monday morning as the S&P 500 wraps up its best August performance since the 1980s.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials eked up two points early Monday, to 28,613.
Futures for the S&P 500 moved higher 2.75 points, or 0.1%, at 3,508.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite took on 19 points, or 0.2%, to 11,965.
The S&P 500 is up 7.2% month to date, putting the broader-market index on track for its biggest August gain since 1984. The Dow has rallied more than 8% this month and is also headed for its best August in 36 years.
This month’s gains have pushed the S&P 500 to record levels, officially confirming a new bull market has started. The Dow, meanwhile, erased its 2020 losses on Friday, closing the session with a year-to-date gain 0.4%.
Two big stock splits take effect Monday. Apple shares gained 1% in pre-market trading as a four-for-one split took effect. Tesla shares added nearly 3% following its five-for-one split.
The August rally built on the market’s sharp rebound off the March 23 intraday lows. Since then, the Dow has climbed 57% and the S&P 500 is up 60.1%.
In an apparent long-term bet on the global economy, Warren Buffett announced Sunday that his Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate had acquired stakes of more than 5% in Japan’s five-leading trading companies.
Those companies are Itochu Corp., Marubeni Corp., Mitsubishi Corp., Mitsui & Co., and Sumitomo Corp. The five businesses import everything from metals to food into Japan and provide services to manufacturers.
The Dow will kick off the week with three new constituents and with Apple having a much smaller influence on the 30-stock average.
Come Monday’s open, Salesforce, Amgen and Honeywell will be included in the Dow, replacing longtime component Exxon Mobil, Pfizer and Raytheon Technologies.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.1% Monday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index faltered 1%.
Oil prices picked up 30 cents to $43.27 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slipped $5.30 to $1,969.60.
