Jan 8 (Reuters) - Futures tracking Canada's resources-heavy stock index were flat on Thursday, pressured by a decline in precious metal prices, while investors turned cautious ahead of a key jobs report later in the week.
March futures on Toronto's S&P/TSX Composite index were up 0.03% as of 6:42 a.m. ET, after the benchmark pulled back from a record high on Wednesday due to cooling precious metal prices.
Much of this week has been dominated by developments in Venezuela, home to the world's largest oil reserves, where a potential increase in production could result in stiff competition to Canadian oil companies.
TSX's energy sub-index (.SPTTEN), has fallen 5.8% this week and is set for its biggest weekly decline in nine months.
On Thursday, spot gold dropped 0.5%, while silver prices fell 2.93%, as investors prepared for futures selling tied to a commodity index reshuffle that starts on Friday.
Oil prices edged higher, recouping declines over the previous two sessions triggered by worries that the United States' attempts to control reserves in Venezuela would lead to higher oil supply.
Canada's trade data for October is due later in the day, but the greater focus will be on December employment figures due on Friday, which could help investors gauge the Bank of Canada's next monetary policy move.
In other news, Prime Minister Mark Carney is expected to visit China next week as Canada tries to forge new trade partnerships in the face of crippling tariffs in its main market, the U.S.
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Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi; Editing by Jonathan Ananda
