Futures for Canada’s commodity-heavy stock index edged up on Friday, tracking a rise in crude prices, while upbeat earnings from big U.S. banks supported optimistic investor mood.
The TSX gained 110.17 points to finish Thursday at 20,564.49.
June futures on the S&P/TSX index improved 0.2% Friday morning.
The Canadian dollar grabbed 0.09 cents to 75.04 cents U.S.
Scotiabank downgraded oil and gas company Cenovus Energy to “sector perform” from “sector outperform.”
TRX Gold said the gold miner was on track to meet its gold production forecast for the fiscal year 2023.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported manufacturing sales declined 3.6% in February, mainly on lower sales in the petroleum and coal product, motor vehicle and primary metal industries.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange surged 3.52 points Thursday to 639.40.
ON WALLSTREET
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained Friday as investors kicked off the start of corporate earnings season with results that came in stronger than expected.
Futures for the 30-stock index advanced 30 points, or 0.1%, at 34,220.
Futures for the much-broader index inched up one point, to 4,123.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite capsized 55.5 points, or 0.4%, to 13,154.25.
Those moves come after JPMorgan Chase reported record revenue that beat analyst expectations. The stock rose more than 6% in the premarket. Wells Fargo shares gained 2% in premarket trading after reporting growing profits. PNC Financial Services Group shares climbed 3% after beating earnings expectations.
Meanwhile, UnitedHealth, which has the biggest weighting in the Dow, climbed 1% in the premarket after the firm posted better-than-expected results, and slightly raised its guidance.
Expectations for this earnings season are downbeat. Analysts polled by Refinitiv expect S&P 500 earnings fell more than 5% in the first quarter. That forecast comes as companies deal with persistent inflation and higher rates.
Citigroup shares gained more than 2% in premarket trading as it too appeared to top expectations from Wall Street on Friday.
The bank reported $21.45 billion in revenue versus $19.986 billion expected, according to analysts polled by Refinitiv. Citigroup reported earnings of $2.19 per share for the quarter, while it was not clear how comparable that number is to estimates, it appeared to be a well above expectations.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.2% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gathered 0.5%.
Oil prices increased 16 cents to $82.32 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faltered $7.20 to $2,048.10 U.S. an ounce.