Futures tracking Canada’s main stock index rose on Wednesday to hover near record highs, helped by firmer oil prices and upbeat earnings from Canadian lenders.
The TSX Composite Index finished Tuesday higher by 70.5 points at 20,547.76
The Canadian dollar backed off 0.19 cents to 79.19 cents U.S.
September futures inched up 0.2% Wednesday
Royal Bank of Canada beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday, after it released reserves set aside to cover credit losses and as the lender saw strong growth across its banking, wealth management and capital markets units.
National Bank of Canada beat analysts’ estimates for quarterly profit on Wednesday, as the bank reversed earlier provisions for credit losses and saw strong performance across business segments compared with a year earlier.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Bank of Montreal to $149.00 from $143.00
Credit Suisse cuts target price on Hudbay Minerals to $11.50 from $13.00
RBC raised the target price on Scotiabank to $89.00 from $86.00
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange pointed higher 3.61 points Tuesday to 880.91.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures were flat on Wednesday as investors took a pause a day after the NASDAQ Composite closed above 15,000 for the first time ever.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials ditched five points, to 35,309.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 2.5 points, or 0.1%, to 4,480.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index staggered 13.25 points, or 0.1%, to 15,343.
The NASDAQ rose on Tuesday for the fourth session in a row to a record close of 15,019.80, bringing it year-to-date gains to more than 16%. Amazon led the gains on Tuesday. It was the NASDAQ’s 29th record close of 2021. The tech-heavy benchmark is now up more than 126% from its pandemic low. The S&P 500 also hit a record on Tuesday.
Amazon and Apple were higher again in pre-market trading, up about 0.3% each.
Markets have been boosted by signs that delta variant cases could be peaking. One expert said late Tuesday that the worst may be behind us, citing a falling positivity rate in Florida and Texas.
Johnson & Johnson said on Wednesday that its Covid Vaccine booster shot showed promising results in early stage clinical trials, significantly increasing virus-fighting antibodies.
Wells Fargo Securities head of equity strategy Christopher Harvey also sees more gains on the horizon. He lifted his year-end target to 4,825 on Tuesday, which is 7.5% above where the index finished the day. Harvey’s call is based on the S&P’s strength through August carrying over into the final months of the year.
The much anticipated Jackson Hole symposium kicks off on Thursday, where central bankers will potentially provide updates on their plan around tapering monetary stimulus. The Federal Reserve has been purchasing at least $120 billion of bonds per month to curb longer-term interest rates and jumpstart economic growth as the pandemic wreaked havoc on the economy.
Chairman Jerome Powell is slated to make remarks on Friday.
Several tech companies will report earnings on Wednesday after the market closes, including Dow component Salesforce. Box and Snowflake are also on deck.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index lost seven points, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index poked up 0.1%.
Oil prices picked up 18 cents to $67.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $12.60 to $1,795.90 U.S. a pound.