Big Gains Foreseen for TSX

Futures for Canada's main stock index rose on Thursday, supported by gains in metal prices, while investors digested earnings from some of the big tech megacaps on Wall Street.The TSX index gained 53.85 points to conclude Wednesday at 25,473.30.March futures on the S&P/TSX index bounced 0.6% Thursday. The Canadian dollar dipped 0.06 cents to 69.39 cents U.S. early Thursday. In domestic corporate news, methanol supplier Methanex beat fourth-quarter profit estimates on Wednesday.On the macroeconomic front, Statistics Canada released payroll numbers for November. The number of employees receiving pay and benefits from their employer—measured as "payroll employment" in the Survey of Employment, Payrolls and Hours—decreased by 56,100 (-0.3%) in November, following three consecutive months of little change. On a year-over-year basis, payroll employment was up 142,900 (+0.8%) in November.ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange added 4.16 points Wednesday to 613.59.ON WALLSTREET S&P 500 futures rose Thursday as Wall Street digested recent quarterly results from a slew of megacap tech companies. Investors are coming off a losing session after the Federal Reserve held steady on rates.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials lost 50 points, or 0.1% to 44,840.Futures for the S&P 500 gathered 14.75 points, or 0.2%, to 6,082.25Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ hiked 105.25 points, or 0.5%, to 21,628.50. Shares of Meta Platforms picked up 1%, and Tesla gained 2%, while Microsoft shares dipped more than 4% after the companies reported earnings. Meta beat on top and bottom lines, but Microsoft shares faltered after the company’s quarterly revenue forecast disappointed. Tesla shrugged off an earnings and revenue miss. On the other hand, revenue misses from UPS and Caterpillar weighed the indexes down.Other “Magnificent Seven” names are set to report in the coming days, with Apple’s results being due for a Thursday release. Amazon will soon follow suit, as the megacap tech company reports next week.On the economic data front, the fourth-quarter gross domestic product reading is due on Thursday, and weekly jobless claims are out in the morning. Investors are also looking ahead to Friday’s personal consumption expenditures price index report for December.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 nosed ahead 0.3% Thursday, while in Hong Kong, markets were closed for Lunar New Year.Oil prices edged up six cents to $72.68 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices surged $27.60 to $2,821.10 U.S. an ounce.