Toronto's main stock index looked set to open lower on Friday as commodity prices fell and fears over the health of the European economy intensified.
Oil and gas company BPZ Resources Inc said it formed a joint venture with Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. to develop and explore an offshore block in Peru.
Air Canada warned on Thursday that its first-quarter results would be hurt by a $120-million charge related to the creditor protection filing of its former maintenance unit Aveos.
Inmet Mining Corp. reported a 62% increase in quarterly profit on Thursday as higher copper production outweighed a drop in zinc output and lower metal prices.
NiMin Energy Corp. said it would sell its assets in the San Joaquin Basin to Southern San Joaquin Production LLC for about $27 million in cash.
Progressive Waste Solutions said its quarterly profit fell, hurt by lower recycled fiber prices. Net income fell to $22.1 million, or 19 cents per share, from $23 million, or 19 cents per share, a year ago.
ON BAYSTREET
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 34.79 points Thursday to 12,145.85
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 22.12 points to 1,393.24, while the Nasdaq Canada index advanced 6.10 points to 415.72
The Canadian dollar notched up 0.07 cents this morning at 101.66 cents U.S.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. index futures were relatively unchanged with about 30 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will show little direction when trading begins. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were flat at 13,160.
Futures for the broader S&P 500 were up one point to 1,397.80. Both indexes turned in strong gains on Thursday, with investors embracing a strong report on U.S. pending home sales in March.
For the tech-rich Nasdaq, futures were up 6.75 points, or 0.3%, to 2,727.
In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.3% in afternoon trading, while Germany's DAX index rose less than 0.1%. Despite the slight gains, Europe remains unsettled: In overnight action, Standard & Poor's downgraded Spain's credit rating by two notches, to triple-B, with a negative outlook.
Commodity prices were down slightly. Crude oil fell 0.3%to $104.29 U.S. a barrel. Gold fell 0.3%, to $1,656 U.S. an ounce.
