Futures for Canada’s main stock index were subdued on Wednesday as declines in gold and oil prices were offset by optimistic investor sentiment in the United States.
June futures on the S&P/TSX index were flat at 6:33 a.m. ET.
Gold prices extended their fall, partly weighed down by hedge fund reductions and easing tensions of a major escalation in the Middle East.
Oil prices trended lower as industry data showed a surprise drop in U.S. crude stocks last week, and a drop in business activity from the world’s largest oil consumer.
Meanwhile, S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures gained on Wall Street on a boost by growth stocks as investors lauded upbeat earnings from mega-cap Tesla.
On the data front, a March reading of retail sales data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET in Canada, that could offer some more insight on the state of inflation in the country.
All data in Canada is on the radar after Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem’s hinted in early April that the central bank would be open to a June cut if a cooling trend in inflation was sustained.
Investors are also awaiting the monthly reading of the personal consumption expenditure (PCE) – the Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation – for further clues on the timing of cuts in the U.S.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended 0.64% higher on Tuesday, hitting its highest in over a week.
In corporate news, miner OceanaGold Corp said on Wednesday it will raise 6.08 billion pesos ($106 million) through an initial public offering (IPO) of its Philippine unit.
First Quantum Minerals said on Tuesday that it has cut its debt by $1.14 billion in the first quarter.
Futures tied to the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq rose on Wednesday, with Tesla at the helm of gains after its quarterly results, while most megacap growth names also offered support.
Tesla led gains across megacap stocks with a 12.8% jump in premarket trading after the electric-vehicle maker eased some worries about growth with a prediction that sales would rise this year and said it would roll out more affordable models in early 2025.
Other growth stocks also advanced, with Amazon.com, Microsoft and Nvidia up between 0.4% and 2.2%.
The earnings season was in full swing with Humana adding 3.7% after the health insurer beat first-quarter profit expectations.
Boston Scientific rose 3.6% after the medical device maker raised its annual profit forecast.
Hasbro gained 4.9% after the toymaker reported a smaller-than-expected drop in first-quarter sales and handily beat profit estimates.
Wabtec
advanced 4.4% after the heavy industrial parts maker raised its full-year profit forecast.
Meanwhile, social media firms Meta Platforms and Snap gained 2.2% and 1.6%, respectively, after the U.S. Senate passed a bill late on Tuesday that would ban TikTok in the United States if its owner, the Chinese tech firm ByteDance, failed to divest the popular short video app.
Meta, Microsoft and Alphabet are scheduled to report their quarterly results later this week.
“The large volume of company results this week gives investors a lot more to focus on than purely macro events, which is leading to the extra levels of market vitality,” Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said in a note.
Adjusted blended earnings are estimated to grow by 6% for the quarter on a year-on-year basis, according to LSEG data.
U.S. equities have recouped some losses following last week’s slump when investors turned risk-off amid tensions in the Middle East and more data prompting a tuning to their rate-cut expectations from the Federal Reserve.
On the docket for the day is the durable goods data for March, due at 8:30 a.m. ET, with the much anticipated Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) index reading for March, the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, due on Friday.
Dow e-minis were down 25 points, or 0.06%, S&P 500 e-minis were up 6.75 points, or 0.13%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 98.25 points, or 0.56%.
Among other stocks, Visa added 2.7% in premarket trading after the payments processing giant’s second-quarter results sailed past Wall Street estimates, as consumers shrugged off worries of a slowing economy.
Texas Instruments climbed 6.9% after the chipmaker forecast second-quarter revenue above analysts’ estimates, signaling an uptick in demand for its analog semiconductors.
Other chip stocks such as Arm Holdings, Micron Technology and Advanced Micro Devices also rose between 1.8% and 4.5%.
Solar inverter maker Enphase Energy dropped 9.0% after projecting second-quarter revenue below analysts’ estimates.
Reuters
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