Futures Flat to End Week

Futures tied to Canada's main stock index steadied on Friday after the previous session's losses, as attention shifted to an upcoming high-stakes U.S.–Russia summit to discuss a potential end to the war in Ukraine. The TSX Composite Index scaled back 77.44 points to end Thursday at 27,915.99, after several days of new record highs. Futures poked ahead 0.04% Friday. The Canadian dollar collected 0.13 cents to 72.52 cents U.S. It’s a busy day on the economic slate, home sales across Canada rose 6.6% in July from a year earlier, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Home sales rose 3.8% on a month-over-month basis from June, with transactions up a cumulative 11.2% since March of this year. Statistics Canada says manufacturing sales rose by 0.3% in June, driven by higher sales of petroleum and coal as well as food products. Meanwhile, the transportation equipment subsector posted the largest decline. New motor vehicle sales totaled 177,313 in June, increasing 6.2% from June 2024, and wholesale sales rose 0.7% to $84.7 billion in June. ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 6.65 points Thursday to 779.81. ON WALLSTREET U.S. stock futures were mixed on Friday, as Wall Street looked to wrap up another week of gains. Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials sprang 257 points, or 0.6%, to 45,254. Aiding Dow futures was a 12% surge in UnitedHealth after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway and Michael Burry’s Scion Asset Management revealed they bought stock in the insurance giant during the second quarter. Futures for the S&P 500 advanced 6.75 points, or 0.1%, to 6,497.25 Futures for the NASDAQ backpedaled 21.25 points, or 0.1%, to 23,909.25. Intel gained more than 3% following a Bloomberg report that the Trump administration is in discussions to have the U.S. government take a stake. For the week, the major averages were headed for solid gains. The Dow, S&P 500 and NASDAQ gained more than 1% week to date as of Thursday’s close, thanks to new consumer inflation data that raised hopes for a Federal Reserve rate cut next month. Investors on Friday will monitor economic data on import prices, consumer sentiment and retail sales in the States. In Japan, the Nikkei 225 surged 1.7% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng subsided 1%. Oil prices faded 33 cents to $63.63 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices poked ahead $1.10 at $3,384.30 U.S. per ounce.