Canada's main stock index was set to start lower on Wednesday following a decline in oil prices as the dollar strengthened against a basket of currencies ahead of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's last meeting.
The S&P/TSX Composite triumphed 83.74 points to close Tuesday at 15,922.37
The Canadian dollar slumped 0.13 cents to 75.94 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
Restaurant Brands International Inc jumped more than 7% Tuesday after it announced acquisition of Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen for $1.8 billion in cash.
Saputo Inc bought out Australian firm Warrnambool Cheese and Butter Factory Co Holdings’ largest minority shareholder, Lion Pty Ltd, all but securing a takeover offer for the 12% of WCB that Saputo does not already own.
Maple Leaf Foods’ quarterly profit more than doubled as margins in its prepared meats business improved.
National Bank Financial raised the target price on Capital Power to $30.00 from $29.00
CIBC raised the target price on Sienna Senior Living to $17.25 from $17.00
Desjardins raised the target price on Veresen to $14.00 from $13.00 with a hold rating
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that retail sales had their win streak snapped at four in December, decreasing 0.5% in the last month of calendar 2016.
Drops were widespread as lower sales were reported in nine of 11 sub-sectors, representing 82% of retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 1.04 points Tuesday to 844.96
ON WALLSTREET
Stock index futures pointed to a lower open south of the border as traders focused on a host of earnings reports after fresh record highs in the previous session.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials snipped off two points to 20,686. Futures for the S&P 500 dropped 2.5 points to 2,357.5. NASDAQ futures lost one point at 5,342.75
In terms of earnings, Norwegian Cruise Line is among major companies that reported before the bell. Tesla Motors, HP, L Brands, Boston Beer and Cheesecake Factory are all due to report after the market close.
Speaking of things economic, Wednesday will see existing home sales for January at 10 a.m ET with the latest minutes from the Federal Open Market Committee meeting due to be released at 2 p.m ET.
European markets forged slightly higher by noon on the continent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 was flat and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index ballooned 1% Wednesday
Oil prices retreated 37 cents to $53.96 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices recovered $1.10 to $1,240 U.S. an ounce.
