Futures for Canada’s main stock index inched lower on Friday with the benchmark index headed for its fourth consecutive weekly loss, weighed down by weakness in crude and bullion prices.
The TSX Composite Index declined 347.97 points, or 1.6%, to end Thursday at 21,650.41.
June futures faded 0.3% on Friday.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.49 cents to 78.93 cents U.S.
Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said on Thursday supply pressures were showing no signs of easing and the central bank will be watching the impact of higher interest rates on inflation to gauge how much it needs to tighten policy.
CIBC raised the rating on Cogeco Inc to outperform from neutral.
CIBC revised the rating on Shaw Communications to tender from outperform.
CIBC cut the rating on Telus to neutral from outperform, and raised the price target to $34.00 from $33.50.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported retail sales edged up 0.1% to $59.9 billion in February.
Higher sales at clothing and clothing accessories stores and gasoline stations were offset by lower sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
The agency’s industrial product price index The Industrial Product Price Index rose 4.0% month over month in March, the largest monthly change on record since the series began in 1956. Year over year, the index increased 18.5%, its biggest gain since December 1974,
StatsCan’s raw materials price index was up 11.8% on a monthly basis in March and 42.7% year over year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 29.74 points, or 3.4%, Thursday to 855.61.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were lower in early morning trading Friday as the S&P 500 tried to avoid another losing week amid busy earnings and rising bond yields.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials staggered 79 points, or 0.2%, to 34,630.
Futures for the S&P 500 doffed five points, or 0.1%, to 4,385.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index gained 12.5 points, or 0.1%, to 13,740.75.
For this week, the Dow is up 1% and on pace to break a three-week losing streak. The S&P is up less than 0.1% on the week and attempting to break a two-week losing streak.
The NASDAQ, however, is down 1.3% week to date, on track to post its third negative week in a row.
Weighing on sentiment Thursday was Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s comment on the possibility of a larger-than-usual rate hike for next month.
Powell said during an International Monetary Fund panel that taming inflation is “absolutely essential” and a 50-basis-point hike is on the table for May.
Snap shares fell 3% in pre-market trading as the social media platform reported first-quarter revenue short of expectations even after showing strong growth in daily users.
Gap shares plunged 13% in premarket trading after the company announced the CEO of its Old Navy division, Nancy Green, is leaving the business this week. Gap also slashed its outlook for net sales growth in fiscal 2022.
American Express shares were down more than 1% premarket despite the company reporting quarterly earnings and revenue beats.
Verizon is slated to post results before the bell Friday.
In Asia, the Nikkei 225 in Japan sagged 1.6% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index 0.2%.
Oil prices backpedaled $1.40 to $102.39 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $13.30 to $1,934.90 U.S.