Dec 20, 2024 (Baystreet.ca via COMTEX) --
Futures tracking Canada's main stock index fell on Friday, mirroring their Wall Street peers, as investors awaited key U.S. inflation and domestic retail sales data due later in the day.
The TSX lost 143.06 points to close Thursday at 24,413,94, for its sixth-straight losing session.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.06 cents to 69.49 cents U.S.
Futures plunged 0.8% Friday.
Economically speaking, Statistics Canada said retail trade increased 0.6% to $67.6 billion in October. Sales were up in five of nine subsectors and were led by increases at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fought its way upward 0.28 points to 582.59.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures fell on Friday with big selling returning to Wall Street after a one-day respite. The latest reading of the Federal Reserve's favorite inflation gauge was due Friday morning.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials capsized 265 points, or 0.6%, to 42,532.
Futures for the S&P 500 slid 62.5 points, or 1.1%, to 5,871.50
Futures for the NASDAQ dumped 351.5, or 1.6%, to 21,027.50.
Shares of Tesla, a big winner of 2024 and in the post-election run, was off by 5% in pre-market trading. Nvidia, the star of the bull market, fell 3%. Palantir and Dell shares were also lower.
Also weighing on sentiment was the failure Thursday night of a Trump-endorsed House Republican measure to fund the government for three months and avert a government shutdown. Without a deal to fund the government and a bill that's passed the House and Senate and has been signed into law, a partial shutdown is slated to start Friday night.
During Thursday's trading session, the Dow eked out a 15-point gain and ended a 10-day losing streak -- its longest since 1974. The small gain came a day after the Dow plunged 1,100 points on Wednesday. The Dow is down 3.4% on the week, headed for its worst weekly performance since March 2023. The S&P 500 and NASDAQ are each off around 3% on the week.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 lost 0.3% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng dropped 0.2%
Oil prices ditched 68 cents to $68.70 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices captured $11.00 to $2,619.10 U.S. an ounce.
COMTEX_461057262/2559/2024-12-20T08:42:15
