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Investing.com -- Futures tied to Canada’s main stock index were down minimally in premarket trading Thursday, as investors digested key earning reports from tech giants Meta and Microsoft.
By 8:40 ET, the bellwether S&P/TSX 60 index’s standard futures contract was down 3 points or 0.2% ahead of market open. This follows yesterday’s marginal fall of 2.2 points or 0.1%
In Wednesday’s trading, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX Composite index declined by 32.8 points or 0.1%, having ended higher on Tuesday by 75.89, or 0.3%, at 24,874.48, notching its highest closing level since April 2.
Underpinning sentiment was yesterday’s GDP report, showing GDP retraction of 0.2% in February, following a 0.4% GDP increase in January. Goods-producing industries drove the downturn.
CIBC (TSX:CM)’s Andrew Grantham said, "Given that Q1 growth was partly driven by tariff front-running activity, and that new tariffs have been applied on Canadian goods subsequently, we continue to expect a modest contraction in GDP during the second quarter of the year. That would be closer to the Bank of Canada’s more pessimistic scenario 2 projection within the April MPR, and evidence of this within upcoming data should bring a 25bp interest rate cut at the June meeting."
Underpinning investment sentiment in Canada was cautious during a chaotic earnings season and amid uncertainty fueled by U.S. President Donald Trump’s volatile trade policy.
Prime Minister Mark Carney and the Liberals won a minority parliament in the election Monday, as Canadians hope Carney can hold fast to his tough stance on Trump, prioritizing economic independence and Canadian sovereignty.
U.S. stock futures
Trading in U.S. stock index futures pointed to gains on Thursday, as investors gauged key earnings and awaited upcoming labor data.
As of 8:50 ET, S&P 500 Futures pointed upward by 57.5 points or 1%, Nasdaq 100 Futures were up 315.3 points or 1.6%, and the Dow Jones Futures implied a gain of 257 points or 0.6%.
In yesterday’s trading, the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 141.7 points or 0.4%, and the S&P 500 jumped by 8.2 points or 0.2%. The NASDAQ Composite fell 15 points or 0.1% on the day.
The U.S.’ growth and inflation data showed a smaller-than-expected rise in employment for April, and March’s PCE index showed a 2.3% inflation increase, downward from February’s indication of 2.7%.
After Wednesday’s close, Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:META) reported better-than-expected first-quarter results and upbeat guidance that pointed to increased spending on artificial intelligence cooling fears about slowing AI demand. Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) also outperformed expectations, bolstered by its Azure cloud business, which grew 33% y-o-y.