March 9 (Reuters) - Canadian stock futures fell slightly
on Thursday as investors worried about further monetary
tightening by the U.S. Federal Reserve, while gains in commodity
prices limited large losses.
March futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 0.1% at
7:05 a.m. ET.
Across the border, futures linked to the S&P 500 and
the Nasdaq also declined as remarks by Fed Chair Jerome
Powell over the past two days dampened any hopes of the central
bank easing its hawkish monetary stance anytime soon. Contracts linked to crude oil and metals also rose in choppy
trading, supporting the commodity-heavy TSX's futures. Among individual stocks, Panama's government and miner First
Quantum Minerals agreed on the final text for a contract
to operate a key copper mine.
Brokerage Credit Suisse upgraded Nuvei Corp to
"outperform" from "neutral".
On Wednesday, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite
index closed 0.3% higher after the Bank of Canada kept
interest rates on hold as expected. COMMODITIES AT 7:00 a.m. ET
Gold futures : $1,823.6; +0.2% US crude : $76.73; +0.1% Brent crude : $82.8; +0.1% U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON THURSDAY
Weekly jobless claims due at 8:30 a.m. ET
FOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES:
TSX market report Canadian dollar and bonds report Reuters global stocks poll for Canada Canadian markets directory ($1 = 1.3788 Canadian dollars)
(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; editing by
Uttaresh Venkateshwaran)
