Futures for Canada’s main stock index inched higher on Thursday after the worst session in three months, while weaker bullion and crude prices capped further gains for the resources-focused index.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dived 354.98 points, or 2%, to close Wednesday at 17,424.43.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.22 cents to 77.79 cents U.S.
March futures eked up 0.1% Thursday.
Boosting market sentiment, Cenovus Energy forecast higher production and spending for 2021 after its blockbuster purchase of rival Husky Energy, expecting to benefit from a rebound in fuel demand from a slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
CIBC cut the target price on Canadian Pacific Railway to $490.00 from $500.00
CIBC cut the target price on Gibson Energy to $23.00 from $24.00
TD Securities initiated coverage on Wesdome Gold Mines with a buy rating, and a target price of $13.5
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported Average weekly earnings were $1,110 in November, up 0.6% compared with October.
This brought the year-over-year increase in earnings to 6.6%, as job losses since February have been concentrated among hourly paid—and largely lower-paid—employees.
Moreover, the agency told us building permits decreased in value by 4.1% to $9.1 billion in December, following a month during which several high value permits were issued.
StatsCan said declines were reported in every component except single-family dwellings.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange tumbled 44.22 points, or 4.6%, Wednesday to 917.40.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures tied to the S&P 500 were little changed early Thursday following a sharp selloff in the stock market the day before.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 37 points, or 0.1%, to 30,226.
Futures for the S&P 500 dropped 2.75 points, or 0.1%, at 3,741.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite flopped 83.5 points, or 0.6%, to 13,022.
Apple turned in its largest revenue on record at $111.4 billion in its fiscal first-quarter earnings report for fiscal 2021. Sales for every product category rose by double-digit percentage points. Shares of the tech giant, however, dipped 2% in pre-market trading.
Tesla dropped about 5% in pre-market trading after the electric car maker posted worse-than-expected earnings for the latest quarter. The company also said it expects annual average delivery growth of 50% going forward.
Shares of American Airlines surged more than 28% in premarket trading Thursday after the carrier posted better-than-feared quarterly results.
Wall Street suffered steep losses on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 and the Dow posting their worst day since October, as the speculative buying frenzy in heavily shorted stocks kept investors on edge. Some fear that hedge funds being squeezed could be forced to reduce their equity holdings to raise cash.
Brick-and-mortar video game retailer GameStop, a target on the “wallstreetbets” Reddit chat room, soared another 134% Wednesday, pushing its January gains to a whopping 1,744%. AMC Entertainment surged over 300% Wednesday alone, experiencing its highest volume ever.
GameStop was higher again in pre-market trading, reversing earlier losses and soaring another 40% as the mania continues. AMC Entertainment was flat.
Investors also awaited the latest weekly jobless claims data and a fourth-quarter gross domestic product reading, both due Thursday morning.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 1.5%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slumped 2.6%.
Oil prices stepped back 16 cents to $52.69 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices raced $6.20 to $1,838.70 U.S.