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Futures Down Slightly to Conclude Week, May
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved upward 173.73 points by Thursday’s end to 22,071.71.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.26 cents to 73.34 cents U.S.
June futures were down 0.1% Friday.
In corporate news, Laurentian Bank of Canada booked severance charges of $2.1 million in the second quarter in relation to its organizational changes.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada says March GDP data is out today, showing a figure essentially unchanged as both goods-producing and services-producing industries showed little movement in March. GDP increased 0.4%, however, in the first quarter, after posting no change in the fourth quarter of 2023.
The Bank of Canada is expected to initiate interest rate cuts in its June 5 monetary policy meeting, with a 64% probability, while markets are pricing in 35 bps cuts from the Fed this year, with a 49% chance of a rate cut in September.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.94 points, or 1%, Thursday to 614.96.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures ticked lower Friday as investors reviewed a flurry of corporate earnings ahead of a key inflation report. Wall Street was also headed for a losing week after what has been a stellar month for stocks.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials shed 49 points, or 0.1%, to 38,182.
Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 9.75 points, or 0.2%, at 5,243.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite sank 57.5 points, or 0.3%, to 18,549.
Traders digested the latest company earnings results Friday. Dell Technologies tumbled 16% even after its first-quarter results beat expectations. Cloud security stock Zscaler surged 15%, while developer data platform MongoDB plunged almost 24%. Apparel retailer Gap surged more than 22%, while department store chain Nordstrom slid more than 2%.
The April personal consumption expenditure data is due out Friday morning. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect a 2.7% year-over-year increase for core PCE, down slightly from the 2.8% gain in the previous read.
Wall Street is coming off a losing session and is on track to end the holiday-shortened trading week in the red. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ Composite were each on pace to end five-week winning streaks, while the Dow was headed for a second straight week of losses, as rising Treasury yields weighed on investor sentiment.
Despite that, stocks are still on pace to close out a strong month, with each of the major benchmarks set to register a sixth positive month in seven. The Dow is up 0.8% this month, while the S&P 500 is higher by 4%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has gained nearly 7%, which would mark its best month going back to November.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1.1%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index fell 0.8%.
Oil prices dropped nine cents to $77.82 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $1.70 to $2,364.80 U.S. an ounce.
