Toronto's main stock index looked set to open lower on Monday after weaker-than-expected U.S. non-farm payroll data on Friday weighed on sentiment. Canada's market was closed on Good Friday.
Research In Motion Ltd. is losing two more senior executives as the money-losing company embarks on a strategic overhaul that its new CEO says could result in its sale.
ON BAYSTREET
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 75.55 points Thursday to 12,103.11
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 18.10 points to 1,481.04, while the Nasdaq Canada index slipped 1.92 points to 400.75
The Canadian dollar lost 0.19 cents this morning to 100.08 cents U.S.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. index futures were down with about 30 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will fall at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average fell 105 points, or 0.8%, to 12,873. Futures for the broader S&P 500 fell 14.9 points or 1.1%, to 1,375.30, while futures for the Nasdaq were off 28.75 points, or 1%, to 2,725.
European markets were closed for Easter Monday. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.5% in overnight trading.
The turbulence follows the U.S. Labor Department's official non-farm payrolls report, released on Friday morning when North American markets were closed for Good Friday. U.S. employers added just 120,000 positions in March -- well below expectations for 210,000 jobs and down sharply from the upwardly revised 240,000 jobs gains in February. While the unemployment rate fell to 8.2% from 8.3%, the focus is on the bad news.
Among commodities, crude oil slipped to $101.82 U.S. a barrel, down 1.4%. Gold rose to $1,642 U.S. an ounce, up 0.7%
