Futures Gain Friday

Futures tied to Canada's main stock index rose on Friday, buoyed by higher commodity prices, while investors awaited key domestic and U.S. employment data.The TSX faded 35.35 points to conclude Thursday at 25,534.48.March futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.2% Friday. The Canadian dollar dipped 0.15 cents to 69.75cents U.S. early Thursday. In corporate news, cloud services provider Converge Technology will be acquired by alternative investment firm H.I.G. Capital in a deal valued at $1.3 billion.Statistics Canada reported this morning employment increased by 76,000 (+0.4%) in January and the unemployment rate declined 0.1 percentage points to 6.6%.ON BAYSTREET The TSX Venture Exchange advanced 5.38 points Wednesday to 641.95.ON WALLSTREET Stock futures were little changed in the States early Friday as January’s big jobs report loomed.Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials eked up 11 points, or 0.02% to 44,874.Futures for the S&P 500 picked up doffed 1.25 points, or 0.02%, to 6,104.75.Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ faltered 4.5 points, or 0.02%, to 21,867.25. Amazon lost more than 2% in premarket trading, weighing on sentiment. Guidance from the e-commerce giant disappointed investors, as Amazon called for revenue growth of 5% to 9% in the first quarter — its weakest growth on record. The outlook overshadowed top- and bottom-line beats in the fourth quarter.Traders’ focus is on the January jobs report, which was slated for release on Friday at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones are expecting nonfarm payrolls growth of 169,000 for the month, which is lower than the 256,000 jobs added in December. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 4.1%.In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gave up 0.7% Friday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng surged 1.2%. Oil prices advanced 50 cents to $71.11 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices recovered $11.10 to $2,887.80 U.S. an ounce.