Futures for stocks in Canada’s largest market fell on Thursday as the World Health Organization (WHO) said COVID-19 could become endemic like HIV, fuelling concerns that recovery from the economic damages caused by the pandemic will take a long time.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index concluded Wednesday down 377.95 points, or 2.5% at 14,503.21.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.03 cents early Thursday to 70.89 cents U.S.
June futures faded 0.3% Thursday.
First Majestic Silver said on Wednesday it served notice to the Mexican government under North American Free Trade Agreement provisions to begin negotiations to resolve disputes over how the silver producer is taxed in the country.
Linamar beat quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday, helped by a cut in capital expenditure, while also boosting its liquidity despite the COVID-19 pandemic that forced automakers to halt production.
Jefferies raised the target price on Boyd Group Services to $225.00 from $190.00
RBC cut the target price on Equitable Group to $60.00 from $61.00
RBC cut the target price on Teck Resources to $20.00 from $21.00
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales fell 9.2% to $50.8 billion in March, the lowest level since June 2016 and the largest percentage decline since December 2008, during the previous recession.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 7.3 points, or 1.5%, Wednesday to 493.41.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures dipped early Thursday after concerns over the U.S. economy and the market’s overall valuation sparked another selloff in equities a day earlier.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials dropped 146 points, or 0.6%, early Thursday to 23,020.
Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 13.5 points, or 0.5%, at 2,799.56.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite slid 46.25 points, or 0.5%, to 8,946.
Despite sharp drops on Wednesday, the S&P 500 remains more than 28% above its March 23 low. The Dow has also rallied more than 27% since then as shares of major tech companies surged.
Traders awaited the latest jobless data this morning to gauge the pandemic’s impact on the U.S. labor market. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a total of 2.7 million of Americans to have filed unemployment insurance during the week ending May 9.
A record 20.5 million jobs were lost in April alone as the coronavirus-induced economic shutdown tore through the economy, sending the unemployment rate skyrocketing to 14.7%.
Overseas, in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 dropped 1.7%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Sang index slumped 1.5%.
Oil prices gained 84 cents to $26.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices brightened $6.80 to $1,723.20.