Equities in Toronto looked set to open lower on Thursday as investors continued to bet on safe-haven assets on growing concerns about slower pace of global economic growth.
The S&P/TSX composite index slouched 96.93 points to end Wednesday at 12,185.72. March futures capsized 1.3% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar erased 0.22 cents to 71.59 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Telus Corp reported a 16% fall in quarterly profit, hurt by increased competition and weaker demand for its wireless services.
Cenovus Energy Inc posted a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss and announced a fresh round of cuts to its quarterly dividend, 2016 capital budget and workforce, as it tries to shore up finances amid an incessant fall in oil prices.
Thomson Reuters Corp reported a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and said it expects its revenue to grow by low single digits in 2016.
Raymond James raised the target on ARC Resources to $22.00 from $21.00, with an outperform rating
CIBC raised the rating on Sun Life Financial to outperform from sector perform.
Raymond James raised the rating on Intact Financial to outperform from market perform
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported that its new housing price index edged up 0.1% in December, following a 0.2% increase in November.
The agency went on to say the advance was led by higher new home prices in Ontario and British Columbia. December marked the second consecutive month of slowing price gains.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 0.18 points Wednesday to 505.31
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are down sharply, with investors fleeing stocks for safe-haven instruments such as gold and bonds, after Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said market turmoil and the stronger dollar could hurt the U.S. economy.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials collapsed 296 points, or 1.9%, to 15,570, futures for the S&P 500 dropped 35 points, or 1.9%, to 1,811.75. NASDAQ futures faded 81.25 points, or 2.1%, to 3,886.
Twitter shares lost as much as 15% in after hours trading after the micro-blogging site reported Wednesday that it lost two million users in the last three months of 2015.
Tesla shares climbed as much as 13.5% during extended trading after an earnings update that assured investors it can start turning a profit in 2016.
Total shares are down more than 1.5% after reporting mixed results for 2015 as energy majors scramble for profits with oil prices plummeting.
Among the companies reporting quarterly results this morning are Alcatel-Lucent, Pepsi, Kellogg, Thomson Reuters and Time. After the markets close, reports are expected from CBS and Groupon.
Weekly jobless claims data is due from the federal government early this morning. Then, at 10:30 am ET, the new figures on U.S. natural gas inventories will be available.
Yellen, for her part, continues her testimony on Capitol Hill. On Wednesday she told lawmakers there are plenty of headwinds for the U.S. economy.
European markets are suffering in early trading. London fell more than 2%, Frankfurt more than 3% and Paris as much as 4%. The few Asian markets open also fell, led by Hong Kong's Hang Seng which closed down 3.8% on its first day after the Chinese New Year holiday.
Oil prices plummeted 98 cents to $26.47 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices shot higher $41.57 to $1,238.69 U.S. an ounce.
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