Canadian Futures Surmount Breakeven

Futures tied to Canada's main stock index rose marginally on Friday due to gains in metal prices, while investors braced for the Bank of Canada's monetary policy decision next week.

The TSX Composite Index kept its win streak rolling, adding 129.28 points to wrap up Thursday’s session at 24,690.48.

December futures were up 0.1% Friday.

The Canadian dollar inched higher 0.01 cents to 72.50 cents U.S.

The Canadian central bank's policy meeting is due next week, and investors have raised their expectations for a larger-than-usual interest rate cut following Tuesday's unexpectedly low inflation data.

Traders are betting high on a 50-basis-point cut at the meeting on Oct. 23, the odds of which stand at 91.7%.

A larger cut can provide a much-needed boost to the domestic economy, whose annual inflation level has dropped below the central bank's 2% target.

In corporate news, Dundee Corporation announced it acquired two million common shares of Greenheart Gold at the price of $0.50 per share.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange nosed up 2.26 points Thursday to 608.90.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures rose Friday as investors looked to end the week on a high note, while strong Netflix earnings boosted sentiment.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials index shed 27 points, or 0.1%, to 43,484.

Futures for the S&P 500 gained 10.5 points, or 0.2% to 5,897.50.

Netflix climbed more than 6% after the streaming giant beat Wall Street’s expectations on both lines in the third quarter, while reporting a 35% jump in ad-tier memberships from the prior three-month period.

Those moves come after a rally in Travelers propelled the Dow to finish Thursday at an all-time closing high. The broad S&P 500 inched lower despite notching a fresh intraday high during the session, while the technology-heavy NASDAQ Composite concluded modestly higher.

American Express and Procter & Gamble are among the companies reporting earnings before the bell Friday morning.

The Dow has led the way this week, on track to finish 0.9% higher. The S&P 500 took on 0.5% and NASDAQ Composite has added 0.2% on the week.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite Index acquired 94.15 points, or 0.5%, to 20,462.50.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 poked ahead 0.2%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng popped 3.6%.

Oil prices gave back 22 cents to $70.45 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices hiked $20.60 to $2,728.10