Stocks Slide Ahead of Jobs Data

Futures for Canada’s main stock index slipped on Friday, ahead of job data reports from Canada and the United States, which will provide investors more clues to gauge the interest rate paths of the countries’ central banks.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index remained buoyant 84.08 points to wrap up Thursday at 22,229.10.

The Canadian dollar doffed 0.04 cents to 73.12 cents U.S.

June futures were down 0.2% Friday.

In company news, Canada’s biggest oil sands producers extended their support for a tax on carbon but see a proposed federal oil and gas emissions cap as “unnecessary legislation”, the CEOs of these companies told lawmakers in Ottawa on Thursday.

On the economic front, Statistics Canada reports employment was little changed in May (+27,000; +0.1%), and the unemployment rate moved up to 6.2%from 6.1%.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.12 points Thursday to 601.98.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stock futures were little changed on Friday as investors geared up for the latest non-farm payrolls report.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials inched up six points to 38,961.

Futures for the S&P 500 took on 2.25 points at 5,366.25.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite gained 34.5 points, or 0.2%, to 19,094.75.

All three of the major averages are on pace for a winning week. The Dow has a 0.52% gain, while the S&P 500 is higher by 1.43% and the NASDAQ is on pace for a 2.62% advance.

The May U.S. jobs report is due at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones expect that 190,000 jobs were added, and they anticipate that wages grew 3.9% on a year-over-year basis.

GameStop reported its first-quarter results Friday, showing a steep decline in sales along with a loss on the bottom line.

The video game retailer on Friday posted net sales of $881.8 million for the period. That’s down 29% from $1.237 billion a year prior. The sales decline was steeper than the two Wall Street analysts that cover the stock expected. The company also lost $32.3 million during the quarter.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 ducked 0.1% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index was off 0.6%.

Oil prices were better 47 cents to $76.02 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices settled $36.90to $2,354.00 U.S. an ounce.

Futures Static, Markets Brace for Jobs Report

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