Futures for stocks in Canada’s largest centre advanced on Thursday boosted by a rise in oil prices as the U.S. Federal Reserve kept the interest rates steady, while positive comments on rates from Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem lifted sentiment.
The TSX Composite hung onto gains of 14.01 points to close the Wednesday session at 21,728.55.
June futures were ahead 0.3% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar eked up 0.01 cents to 72.86 cents U.S.
Canadian Natural Resources missed analysts’ estimates for first-quarter profit, hurt by lower-than-expected production.
Air Canada reported a smaller first-quarter adjusted loss, as Canada’s largest carrier benefited from a rebound in bookings for business travel.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada says Canada’s merchandise exports declined 5.3% in March, while imports were down 1.2%. Thus, Canada’s merchandise trade balance with the world went from a surplus of $476 million in February to a deficit of $2.3 billion in March, the largest trade deficit since June 2023.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange took on 4.43 points Wednesday to 583.95.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures advanced Thursday as investors looked ahead to more corporate earnings and a key labor data set for later in the week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 156 points, or 0.4%, to 38,225.
Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 31.75 points, or 0.6%, to 5,078.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite hiked 141.25 points, or 0.8%, to 17,579.50.
In after-hours trading, chipmaker Qualcomm rose more than 5% on better-than-expected adjusted earnings and strong revenue guidance. Restaurant delivery service DoorDash dropped 11% after reporting a wider loss per share than Wall Street forecast. Used-car retailer Carvana soared 38% after reporting best-ever earnings after the bell Wednesday.
Those moves followed a choppy day on Wall Street as investors reacted to the Federal Reserve’s decision to keep interest rates unchanged. In the closely-watched press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell essentially ruled out an interest rate hike as the central bank’s next move, despite few recent signs of easing inflation.
Thursday’s quarterly earnings reports are dominated by Apple and Amgen after the close, alongside Coinbase and DraftKings.
Investors will watch Thursday for economic data on weekly jobless claims, first-quarter worker productivity and unit labor costs, as well as March figures on the trade deficit and factory orders. Those releases all come ahead of Friday’s closely watched April jobs report.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 Index faded 0.1% Thursday, while Hong Kong returned to trading, with the Hang Seng Index popping 2.5%.
Oil prices advanced 72 cents to $79.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices settled $3.20 to $2,307.80 U.S. an ounce.