Futures Venture Upward
The TSX Composite gained 4.3 points to end Thursday at 20,278.51.
December futures were up 0.3% early Friday.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.13 cents to 73.67 cents U.S.
Among individual stocks to look out for, brokerage J.P. Morgan downgraded MEG Energy to "neutral" from "overweight".
J.P. Morgan upgraded Imperial Oil to "neutral" from "underweight".
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeaked up 0.04 points to 534.01.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures fell slightly Friday morning as investors looked ahead to a key U.S. jobs report.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials lost 42 points, or 0.1%, to 36,476.
Futures for the S&P 500 slid six points, or 0.1%, at 4,634.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ 42.5 points, or 0.3%, to 16,202.25.
The report is slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect 190,000 jobs were added in November.
Investors have been focused on jobs data, with several reports sprinkled throughout the week leading up to Friday’s numbers. Initial jobless claims reported on Thursday came in at 220,000, while continuing claims came in at 1.861 million.
Stocks have mostly struggled this week, with the Dow losing 0.4% and the S&P 500 falling 0.2% — putting both benchmarks on track to break their five-week win streak. The NASDAQ climbed back into positive territory for the week. It’s currently higher by 0.2%, and if it stays in the green, it could post a sixth straight winning week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 tumbled 1.7% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gave back 0.1%.
Oil prices gushed $1.40 to $70.74 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices submerged $1.40 to $2,045.00 U.S. an ounce.
Provided Content: Content provided by Baystreet. The Globe and Mail was not involved, and material was not reviewed prior to publication.
