Futures tied to Canada’s main stock index jumped on Friday, but the benchmark index was on track for a sharp weekly fall as the escalating trade war with the United States sparked concerns of an economic slowdown.
The TSX Composite Index declined 220.11 points Thursday to 24,203.23.
Futures hiked 0.6% Friday.
The Canadian dollar eked higher 0.03 cents to 69.35 cents U.S. early Friday.
Ex-central banker Mark Carney will be formally sworn in as prime minister of Canada on Friday, putting him in a position to fight tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump that could devastate the trade-dependent Canadian economy.
Trump’s erratic tariff onslaught, along with retaliation from Canada and the European Union, have strained global trade relations and raised concerns about a potential economic recession in the U.S. and Canada.
In corporate news, Adentra on Thursday missed the fourth-quarter sales estimate and highlighted a slight decline in annual sales.
It’s a busy Friday, economically speaking.
Motor vehicle sales declined to 121,600 in January from 135,500 in December.
Elsewhere, manufacturing sales rose 1.7% in January, primarily due to higher sales of motor vehicles and petroleum and coal products.
Wholesale sales rose 1.2% to $85.1 billion in January.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 0.81 points Thursday to 613.17.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures rose Friday following a losing session that dragged the S&P 500 into correction territory.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials regained 201 points, or 0.5%, to 41,064
Futures for the S&P 500 index surged 39.25 points, or 0.7%, to 5,566.75
Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ regained 186.5 points, or 1%, to 19,446.50.
Sentiment on Wall Street got a boost Friday as it appeared a government shutdown would be avoided. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer said he wouldn’t block a Republican government funding bill.
A 1.4% drop on Thursday dragged the S&P 500 down 10.1% from its record close notched last month, bringing it officially into a correction.
This is defined as a decline of at least 10% from a recent high. The 30-stock Dow slid 1.3% and the NASDAQ declined about 2% in the session.
With Thursday’s decline, the NASDAQ fell further into correction territory and is now down more than 10% this year.
That marks another milestone in the pullback that has gripped investors over the past three weeks as President Donald Trump’s on-again-off-again tariff policy drove up uncertainty and market volatility. All three major indexes have dropped more than 4% this week.
The Dow is on track for its second straight losing week and worst weekly decline since June 2022. This would be the fourth negative week in a row for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 regained 0.7% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng climbed 2.1%.
Oil prices heightened 73 cents to $67.28 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved up $17.30 to $3,008.60 U.S. an ounce.
