Oct 9 (Reuters) - Futures for Canada's main stock index were flat on Friday ahead of key employment data due before the market open, while the benchmark index was set to log strong weekly gains on elevated commodity prices.
Data due at 8:30 am ET (1230 GMT) is expected to show Canada's unemployment rate declining slightly in September from the prior month, as the economy slowly recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic.
December futures on the S&P/TSX index SXFc1 were up 0.02% at 7:06 a.m. ET.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE ended 0.65% higher at 16,534.54 on Thursday. Recent gains in oil and gold prices pushed up index-heavy resource stocks, while bets of fresh U.S. stimulus measures also helped. .TO
Dow e-minis 1YMcv1 were up 109 points, or 0.39%, at 7:06 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-minis EScv1 were up 13.25 points, or 0.39%, and Nasdaq 100 e-minis NQcv1 were up 29 points, or 0.25%. .N
ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS RCH/CA
Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd AAV.TO : TD Securities raises target price to C$3 from C$2.75
Canadian National Railway Co CNR.TO : JP Morgan establishes Dec-2021 PT of C$154
Cargojet Inc CJT.TO : National Bank of Canada raises to outperform from sector perform
COMMODITIES AT 7:00 a.m. ET
Gold futures GCc2 : $1916.6; +1.35% GOL/
US crude CLc1 : $40.84; -0.85% O/R
Brent crude LCOc1 : $43; -0.78% O/R
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($1 = 1.3169 Canadian dollars)