Canada’s main stock index futures fell on Thursday, weighed by concerns over the long-term impact of the novel coronavirus and simmering U.S.-China tensions.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index climbed 112.15 points to close Wednesday at 14,997.63.
The Canadian dollar skimmed off 0.02 cents early Thursday to 71.92 cents U.S.
June futures dived 0.6% Thursday.
Canada Goose Holdings Inc said on Wednesday it has laid off 125 workers, about 2.5% of its global workforce, as part of steps to cope with the impact of COVID-19 on its business.
RBC cut the target price on Aritzia to $23.00 from $27.00
CIBC raised the target price on Enerplus to $5.00 from $4.50
Credit Suisse raised the target price on Paramount Resources to $1.75 from $1.50
CIBC raised the target price on Tourmaline Oil to $17.50 from $15.00
CIBC raised the target price on Vermilion Energy to $7.00 from $6.00
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 6.12 points, or 1.2%, Wednesday to 533.93.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures contracts tied to the major U.S. stock indexes fell on Friday as investors took a breather from Wall Street’s robust gains so far this week.
Futures for Dow Jones Industrials settled 102 points, or 0.4%, early Thursday to 24,417.
Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 13 points, or 0.4%, at 2,955.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite slipped 30.25 points, or 0.3%, to 9,455.25.
The S&P 500 has climbed 3.7%, the NASDAQ is better by 4%, and Dow is up 3.7% since Monday. The S&P 500 and Dow are both on track for their best weeks since the week ended April 8.
MGM Resorts, Ross Stores and Under Armour — all stocks that benefit from the economy reopening — in the pre-market Thursday. Best Buy also dropped 2% despite better-than-expected earnings.
But investors say the broader strength this week is in large part thanks to state efforts to ease stay-at-home orders and begin lifting restrictions on business.
Connecticut, for example, began on Wednesday to allow residents to dine in at restaurants with outdoor seating. That partial reopening came a day after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that the pandemic is back down to where it started in the Empire State.
Hopes surrounding a potential COVID-19 vaccine, including a report from Moderna, helped lift stocks to their best day in over a month on Monday.
Thursday morning brought news that first-time filings for unemployment insurance totaled 2.44 million last week as the tail effects of the coronavirus shutdown continued to impact the U.S. jobs market.
Last week, the Labor Department reported another 2.9 million Americans had filed claims in the week ended May 9, which brought the coronavirus crisis total to nearly 36.5 million, by far the largest loss in U.S. history.
Overseas, in Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 sank 0.2%, Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Sang index fell 0.5%.
Oil prices gained 64 cents to $34.13 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices dropped $13.40 to $1,754.80.