Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Monday as a flurry of deals in North America boosted investor confidence.
The S&P/TSX Composite jumped 91.12 points to finish Friday and the week at 14,939.04, with December futures up 0.3% Monday.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.14 cents to 74.83 cents U.S. early Monday.
TD Ameritrade Holding Corp and Toronto-Dominion Bank would buy privately held Scottrade Financial Services Inc in a deal valued at $4 billion U.S.
Restaurant Brands International Inc., the owner of Burger King and Tim Hortons, reported a 5.5% rise in sales helped by new menu items and higher demand in the Asia Pacific and Latin American markets. The company's net profit attributable to shareholders rose to $86.3 million, or 36 cents per share, from $49.6 million, or 24 cents per share, a year earlier. The Oakville, Ontario-based company's total revenue rose to $1.08 billion from $1.02 billion.
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Lundin Mining to $6.50 from $7.50, to reflect uncertainty surrounding the company’s sale of Tenke.
Canaccord Genuity raised the target price on Teck Resources to $28.0 from $19.50, saying the company has been the sole beneficiary of the recent run-up in metallurgical coal prices.
West Fraser Timber Co is out with third-quarters earnings, expecting 97 cents per share
The European Union has given Belgium until late on Monday to overcome opposition to a free trade deal with Canada from its French-speaking region or a summit to sign the pact that could boost both economies is off.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales advanced 0.8% to $56.8 billion in August, a fifth consecutive gain. Five of the seven sub-sectors, representing 80% of total wholesale sales, reported increases.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange nudged higher 4.59 points Friday to 790.57
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Monday, as investors prepared themselves for another batch of corporate earnings, while waiting to hear for any comments made by key Federal Reserve officials.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials bolted higher 80 points, or 0.4%, to 18,146, while futures for the S&P 500 gained 9.25 points, or 0.4%, to 2,144. NASDAQ futures jumped 29 points, or 0.6%, at 4,872.25.
AvalonBay, Everest Re Group, Allison Transmission, Crane, Swift Transportation, Western Alliance Bancorporation and Eagle Materials are all also expected to release earnings. Restaurant Brands International, Kimberly-Clark, T-Mobile and VF Corporation both reported quarterly results.
In other corporate news, AT&T agreed to buy Time Warner for more than $85 billion U.S., while TD Ameritrade said it’s buying Scottrade for $4 billion U.S. AT&T's merger with Time Warner is has already generated skepticism from politicians in Washington, raising the likelihood that regulators will scrutinize the deal.
For Monday, it remains relatively quiet on the economic data front, with investors focusing predominantly on the release of the Markit flash U.S. manufacturing PMI data, due out at 9.45 a.m. ET.
Oil prices deducted 66 cents to $50.19 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices faded $1.60 to $1,266.10 U.S. an ounce.
