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Investing.com - Futures linked to Canada’s main stock exchange inched higher on Thursday, after the average snapped a multi-day losing streak in the previous session.

By 06:42 ET (11:42 GMT), the S&P/TSX 60 index standard futures contract had risen by 2 points, or 0.1%.

On Wednesday, the S&P/TSX composite index ticked up by 0.4%, ending what had been a two-day retreat from a record high logged last week.

The commodity-heavy index was bolstered by an increase in crude prices, which powered a rally in oil stocks. Sentiment was also supported by upbeat earnings from a string of major Canadian banks.

U.S. futures muted

U.S. stock futures hovered around the flatline, as investors eyed upcoming economic data ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve policy-setting meeting.

At 06:57 ET, Dow Jones Futures traded 51 points, or 0.1%, higher, while S&P 500 Futures and Nasdaq 100 futures were mostly unchanged.

The main averages on Wall Street climbed in the prior session, with lackluster private-sector payrolls adding to expectations that the Fed will lower interest rates at next week’s policy meeting, pricing in roughly a 90% chance of a 25-basis-point cut.

Weekly jobless claims due

There are more labor market numbers to study Thursday, with the U.S. Labor Department set release its weekly reading of first-time applications for unemployment benefits later in the session.

Economists anticipate that the reading will come in at 219,000, up marginally from 216,000 in the prior week.

Last week’s numbers marked a seven-month trough for the metric, indicating that while layoffs and firings remained low, demand for Americans looking for work has stayed muted.

Investors were able to study a weaker-than-expected reading from the private sector labour market earlier this week. ADP said U.S. private payrolls shrank by 32,000 in November — a surprising drop after a revised gain the prior month and far below economists’ consensus for a gain.

Although there has been a relative dearth of more comprehensive official employment data due to a record-long federal government shutdown, the Fed argued at meetings in October and September that there is enough evidence of a slowing in the labor market to warrant an easing in borrowing costs.

Adding to the dovish sentiment is growing speculation over the next Fed leadership. Reports that the Trump administration abruptly cancelled interviews with other Fed chair candidates have strengthened the view that Kevin Hassett -- widely perceived as more dovish than current chair Jerome Powell -- could take the helm in 2026.

Salesforce lifts 2026 guidance

In the corporate sector, Salesforce shares rose strongly in premarket trading after the software company lifted its fiscal 2026 revenue and adjusted income guidance.

Underpinning the upbeat outlook were projections for strong growth in demand for the group’s AI-enhanced agent platform, especially among its enterprise clients.

Five Below stock also climbed after the value retailer reported third-quarter earnings that significantly beat analyst expectations, driven by robust comparable sales growth and successful store expansion.

By contrast, Snowflake stock dropped sharply after the cloud-based data storage stock provided a slightly disappointing outlook for its product revenue growth for the January quarter.

Elsewhere, Meta Platforms will be in the spotlight after Brussels opened a new antitrust investigation into the tech giant over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in WhatsApp, the European Commission said on Thursday, reflecting rising scrutiny of Big Tech’s use of generative AI.

Crude moves higher

Oil prices rose after more strikes on Russian oil infrastructure raised threats to global supply, adding to the lack of progress in diplomatic efforts to end the war in Ukraine.

Brent futures climbed 0.5% to $63.01 a barrel, and U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures advanced 0.7% to $59.35 a barrel.

A Reuters report on Wednesday, citing sources, said that Ukrainian forces struck the Druzhba pipeline in Russia’s central Tambov region, reviving concerns over potential disruptions to Russian oil exports.

At the same time, high-level peace talks between U.S. and Russian officials concluded without any breakthrough earlier this week.

Gold slips

Gold prices fell, dented by profit-taking even as investors grew more confident that the Fed will cut interest rates next week.

Spot gold was down 0.1% at $4,201.13 an ounce by 07:14 ET. U.S. Gold Futures for February delivery also dipped 0.1% to $4,230.40.

The prospect of lower interest rates tends to bode well for non-yielding assets such as bullion.

Along with the weekly initial jobless claims data due out later today, attention is on the delayed September Personal Consumption Expenditures price index -- the Fed’s preferred inflation metric -- on Friday.

Investing.com -- ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd. (NYSE:ZIM) stock rose 4% following reports from Globes that German shipping giant Hapag-Lloyd (ETR:HLAG) has made an acquisition offer for the company.

The bid is reportedly in initial stages with negotiations yet to begin between the parties. According to reports, ZIM, which ranks ninth globally with a 2.5% container shipping market share, has attracted interest from multiple industry players. The Israeli shipping company declined to comment on the offer.

Industry leaders MSC and Maersk, which control 20.2% and 14.3% of the global container shipping market respectively, have also reportedly expressed interest in acquiring ZIM, which currently has a market capitalization of $2.4 billion.

The acquisition interest follows ZIM’s CEO Eli Glickman and shipping magnate Rami Ungar submitting their own offer to purchase the company.

Hapag-Lloyd’s move is particularly notable given its ownership structure, which includes Qatar Holding LLC (12.3%) and Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF (10.2%) among its main shareholders. ZIM’s workers committee has expressed strong opposition to the potential acquisition by the German shipping company, which currently holds 7.4% of the global container shipping market.

ZIM’s board previously announced it was conducting a strategic review following the preliminary acquisition proposal from Glickman and Ungar to purchase all outstanding ordinary shares.

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Investing.com -- U.S. stock futures edged higher Thursday ahead of the release of more labor market economic data, with the Federal Reserve widely expected to cut interest rates next week.

Here are some of the biggest premarket U.S. stock movers today:

• Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) stock gained 1.7% after the software company lifted its fiscal 2026 revenue and adjusted income guidance, with the upbeat outlook helped by projections for strong growth in demand for the group’s AI-enhanced agent platform.

• Five Below (NASDAQ:FIVE) stock surged 4.2% after the value retailer reported third-quarter earnings that significantly beat analyst expectations, driven by robust comparable sales growth and successful store expansion.

• Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) stock rose 0.4% after Raymond James reported that the odds the chipmaker will be allowed to send some of its cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips to China have "meaningfully increased."

• Dollar General (NYSE:DG) stock rose 2.3% after the cut-price retailer lifted its annual profit forecast, banking on resilient demand at its discount stores, as well as its efforts to cut costs and reduce inventory-related damages.

• Snowflake (NYSE:SNOW) stock slumped 8.6% after the cloud-based data storage stock provided a slightly disappointing outlook for its product revenue growth for the January quarter.

• Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) stock rose 0.8% after the European Commission opened a new antitrust investigation into the tech giant over its rollout of artificial intelligence features in WhatsApp, reflecting rising scrutiny of Big Tech’s use of generative AI.

• Hormel Foods (NYSE:HRL) stock gained 7.9% after the food producer issued an optimistic fiscal 2026 outlook that overshadowed a challenging fourth quarter marked by significant impairment charges.

• PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock fell 1.1% after JP Morgan lowered its rating on the payments giant to "neutral" from "overweight.”