• NAFTA deal not yet in sight, Canada stands firm on auto tariffs
Canada and the United States showed scant sign on Thursday of closing a deal to revamp NAFTA, and Canadian officials made clear Washington needed to withdraw a threat of possible autos tariffs, sources said.
• Japan uneasy over Trump pressure on auto as summit, trade talks loom
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will meet U.S. President Donald Trump next week as fears grow in Tokyo that Washington could demand that Japan curb its car exports to the United States.
• ENOC's jet fuel storage plans show how Iranian sanctions upending oil market
Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) has chartered at least one vessel to store jet fuel to ensure supply to airlines in Dubai as pending U.S. sanctions on Iran have cut off its access to feedstocks for producing the aviation fuel, said several industry sources.
• Euro zone growth still easing as industry stutters -PMI
Euro zone business growth eased again in September, adding to signs that momentum in the currency bloc is well past its peak with country data for Germany and France also highlighting a slowdown, a survey showed.
• Jefferies' quarterly profit declines 28 percent
Jefferies Group reported a 28.2 percent fall in third-quarter profit, hit by a dip in its investment banking unit and muted activity in its M&A advisory business.
Futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index, boosted by a rise in oil prices and ahead of Canadian inflation and retail sales data. Oil prices rose on supply concerns before the meeting of OPEC and its allies on Sunday. Major U.S. stock index futures were flat, after both Dow and S&P 500 hit record closing highs in the previous session over subsiding U.S.- China trade worries. Global stocks extended their gains with Japanese stock indexes touching multi-month highs. A strong U.S. dollar weakened gold prices.
• Canopy Growth Corp (WEED). Cannabis investor Canopy Rivers Inc, the venture arm of the industry giant went public on Thursday in a debut that gave it a market capitalization of about C$1.6 billion, more than double its valuation prior to the listing. The stock ended the day at C$8.75 on the TSX Venture exchange. The public offering was oversubscribed by more than three times, a source familiar with the situation said, declining to be identified as the information is not public.
Unemployment near a 20-year low screams at the U.S. Federal Reserve to raise interest rates or risk a too-hot economy. The bond market, not far from a state that typically precedes a recession, says not so fast. The decision of which to heed looms large when the Fed's interest-rate setters meet next week. Which path they follow will begin to define whether Chairman Jerome Powell engineers a sustained, recession-free era of full employment, or spoils the party with interest rate increases that prove too much for the economy to swallow.
• AGF Management Ltd (AGFb). RBC cuts target price to C$7 from C$8 to reflect the continued weakening of industry net sales and the recent pullback in sector valuation multiples.
• Gibson Energy Inc (GEI). National Bank of Canada raises target price to C$23 from C$21 citing higher wholesale cash flows and the addition of two new tanks at Hardisty.
ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0830 CPI inflation mm for Aug: Expected -0.1 pct; Prior 0.5 pct
0830 CPI inflation yy for Aug: Expected 2.8 pct; Prior 3.0 pct
0830 CPI BoC core yy for Aug: Prior 1.6 pct
0830 CPI BoC core mm for Aug: Prior 0.2 pct
0830 CPI MM SA for Aug: Prior 0.5 pct
0830 Core CPI mm SA for Aug: Prior 0.3 pct
0830 CPI median for Aug: Prior 2.0 pct
0830 CPI trim for Aug: Prior 2.1 pct
0830 CPI common for Aug: Prior 1.9 pct
0830 (approx.) CPI NSA for Aug: Prior 134
0830 (approx.) CPI yy SA for Aug: Prior 2.7 pct
0830 Retail sales mm for July: Expected 0.4 pct; Prior -0.2 pct
0830 Retail sales ex-autos mm for July: Expected 0.6 pct; Prior -0.1 pct
COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
No major companies are scheduled to report.
CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
1000 Gluskin Sheff + Associates Inc (GS). Q4 earnings conference call
• Keyera Corp (KEY). Amount C$0.15
• National Bank of Canada (NA). Amount C$0.62
(All analysts' estimates are according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S)