TSX futures edge higher as gold prices rise; comments from BoC’s Macklem in focus Scott Kanowsky Fri, October 16, 2026 at 8:22 AM EDT 5 min read GC=F +0.65% ^GSPTSE +1.55% Investing.com - Futures linked to Canada's main stock exchange ticked higher on Friday, bolstered by strength in metals prices, while investors assessed the trajectory of Bank of Canada monetary policy.
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By 07:13 ET (11:13 GMT), the S&P/TSX 60 index standard futures contract had edged up by 6 points, or 0.3%.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 1.55% to finish at 36,137.10 on Thursday, reaching a three-week high. The average is on track to advance for the trading week, which was shortened by Canada's Thanksgiving Day holiday on Monday.
Hovering over sentiment was a statement from Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem, who warned that persistent inflationary pressures could make it "harder" for officials not to raise interest rates. The BoC is standing pat at its next policy decision on October 28, although markets do expect an increase at the central bank's December meeting, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.
Gains in the materials sector, which includes metal mining shares, appeared set to extend into a fresh session thanks in part to a climb in gold prices. Bullion was bolstered by a softer U.S. dollar, while investors also assessed the trajectory of Federal Reserve interest rates.
By 07:41 ET, spot gold had risen by 0.2% to $4,178.44 an ounce and gold futures had gained 0.7% to $4,198.65 an ounce.
The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the greenback against a basket of global currencies, was last down by 0.3% at 101.78 and was on track for its first weekly decline in five weeks.
A weaker dollar can support gold by making bullion less expensive for overseas buyers.
Oil prices were on pace for a weekly increase, as concerns swirled around Middle East supply flows and a bigger-than-expected draw from U.S. inventories.
Benchmark Brent oil futures added 0.8% to $106.72 a barrel by 07:33 ET, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose by 0.2% to $98.21 a barrel.
For the week, Brent was last trading up 0.3%. WTI futures were set to add 6.7% this week, after having rallied sharply on Thursday following data showing a deep drawdown in U.S. oil inventories last week.
"Oil remains well-supported. A pattern has set in: prices slide early in the session, then claw back most of those losses by the close," analysts at ING said in a note.
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S&P 500 futures pointed higher, but the benchmark index was on track for a weekly decline. Technology stocks once again came under pressure from worries around the artificial intelligence trade.
By 06:54 ET, the S&P 500 futures contract had risen by 6 points, or 0.1%. Meanwhile, Nasdaq 100 futures dipped by 57 points, or 0.2%, and Dow futures were mostly unchanged. For the week, the S&P and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite have retreated by almost 1% and more than 2%, respectively. But the blue-chip Dow is on pace for around a 1% increase.
The main averages all finished higher on Thursday, bouncing back from a downturn fueled by concerns around a growing debt pile financing the AI boom and worries over elevated borrowing costs.
In particular, shares of neocloud CoreWeave, whose precipitous slide on Wednesday helped spark the global rout in AI stocks, stabilized. However, it has fallen by more than 15% over the past week and was trading down by more than 4% in premarket U.S. trading.
Other AI sector players, including Micron Technology, Western Digital and Seagate Technology are also on track for weekly drops.
"[T]he pushback from capital markets on AI-linked debt and equity remains the biggest story in the entire market and this trend will inevitably lead to lower/slower capex, advantaging those firms underwriting the bulk of their data center plans out of operating cash flow," analysts at Vital Knowledge said in a note.
Also hovering over sentiment was a Reuters report that some Anthropic investors are dialing down their valuation expectations for the Claude-maker's potential blockbuster initial public offering to around $1.5 trillion from $2 trillion previously. Earlier this week, Anthropic reportedly told investors at a gathering that its third-quarter revenue had jumped by 45% to $16.8 billion. While the figure indicated robust demand for Anthropic's cutting-edge AI tools, analysts flagged that the revenue growth rate slowed sequentially.
Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh said that persistent inflation remained a common challenge for policymakers around the world, although he argued that the global economy had shown greater resilience than he expected.
Warsh also said the Fed removed some monetary policy accommodation at its September meeting, but declined to signal its next policy move.
"Markets took the lack of hawkishness as good news, with October hike pricing dropping," analysts at Deutsche Bank said.
Investors are now widely betting that the Fed will stand pat on rates at its October 27-28 gathering. Earlier this week, wagers on a potential hike this month briefly increased following hotter-than-anticipated consumer price data, but later dissipated. Instead, rates are tipped to move up by a quarter of a percentage point again at the Fed's final meeting of the year in December.
Third-quarter earnings season marched on as well, with results due out before the opening bell from firms like Travelers Companies, Truist Financial, M&T Bank, and Citizens Financial.
Elsewhere, Tesla shares rose before the opening bell after the electric carmaker unveiled a new Roadster that features rocket-style boosters. The vehicle performed a controlled landing after jumping off a ramp in a closely-watched demonstration on Thursday.
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