Gold rally lifts TSX futures as US rate-hike bets ease

TSX futures gain as gold prices rise amid easing US rate-hike bets.Gold prices climbed as investors scaled back expectations of further US interest rate hikes, boosting Canada's TSX futures ahead of the market open.

Fueled by the gold surge, the TSX itself gained nearly 1% to trade above the 35,000 mark.

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Data showed on Thursday U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose by 57,000 last month, below the 110,000 expected by economists in a Reuters poll.

Spot gold and silver rose 1.3% and 2.6%, respectively.

while, oil prices were steady as traders pinned hopes on diplomatic efforts to secure peace in the Middle East between the United States and Iran.

Canada's S&P/TSX Composite Index ended higher on Thursday, as gains in mining stocks outweighed losses in financials and auto parts shares.

The benchmark index was on track for a weekly loss.

Separately, Toronto Regional Real Estate Board data showed Greater Toronto Area home sales rose for a fourth straight month in June, while prices also increased, continuing the market's ‌recovery following a slow start to the year.

Among individual stocks, Australian miner BHP Group has agreed to transfer its San Manuel property in Arizona to Faraday Copper Corp in exchange for a 30% stake in the Canadian miner, as Faraday seeks to develop a copper hub around its adjacent Copper Creek project.

Canada's AtkinsRealis anticipates that Turkey will complete an early review of its CANDU reactors following an information exchange later this summer, which may lead to concrete talks for a nuclear plant bid, a top company official said.

Trading volumes are expected to be thin due to a U.S. public holiday.

On a day when US cash markets were closed for the observed Independence Day holiday, Canada's resource-heavy index took the spotlight.