Futures Display Tepid Gains Thursday

Futures linked to Canada's primary stock index rose slightly on Thursday, as investors awaited economic data from the United States and home to assess the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs on the economy and global trade.

The TSX Composite Index lost 97.64 points to conclude Wednesday at 26,329.

Futures took on 0.2% Thursday.

The Canadian dollar inched up 0.11 cents to 73.20 cents U.S.

Meanwhile, the United States' tariff hike on steel and aluminum took effect on Wednesday. Canada, the largest seller of the metals to the U.S., exports roughly twice as much aluminum as the rest of the top 10 exporters combined.

Canadian companies and a major union said higher U.S. tariffs could result in more job losses and lost sales.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada is prepared to strike back against the U.S. if talks with Washington to remove tariffs do not succeed.

Also on Thursday, China blocked Canada's request to set up a dispute panel to review additional import duties by Beijing on certain Canadian products.

On the economic agenda, the Ivey School of Business will be out with its PMI for May (about 10 a.m. EDT)

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange squeezed 2.2 points higher Wednesday to 719.43.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures were little changed Thursday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average snapped a four-day win streak.

Futures for the 30-stock index gained 22 points to 42,522.

Futures for the S&P 500 index edged higher 0.25 points to 5,981.25.

Futures for the NASDAQ dipped 7.75 points to 21,758.75.

The three major U.S. indexes are tracking for gains so far this week. The S&P 500 is up 1%, while the Dow has added 0.4%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ has jumped 1.8% week to date.

Analysts at Jefferies downgraded shares in Chewy Inc. to hold from buy. It did raise its price target by $2 to $43, but that still implies downside of 9%.

Private sector payrolls rose by just 37,000 in May on Wednesday, coming in sharply below the Dow Jones forecast for 110,000 and raising investors’ worries about the softening job market and the impact on the economy. Those concerns weighed on the major averages during the session, too.

Still, the market’s recent gains — which have been powered by a surge in technology stocks — coupled with a blowout first-quarter earnings season have revived sentiment on Wall Street. Still, investors remain cautious that further pain could be ahead due to the Trump

administration’s tariffs.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 0.5% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng bounced 1.1%

Oil prices eked up 11 cents to $62.96 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices grew $21.50 to $3,420.70 U.S. an ounce.