Futures pointed to a modestly lower start for Canadian stocks on Wednesday, a day after the main stock index hit their highest in nearly six weeks on gains in shares of mining and energy companies.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index grew 84.67 points to conclude Tuesday’s session at 15,669.07. June futures demurred 0.05% Wednesday.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.08 cents at 74.72 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
Hudson's Bay Co reported a quarterly loss on Tuesday, due in part to an impairment charge related to weak sales at Saks OFF 5TH and Gilt.
Cenovus Energy said on Tuesday it priced a $2.9-billion offering of senior notes to fund the acquisition of assets in Western Canada from ConocoPhillips.
Goldman Sachs cut the rating on Imperial Oil to sell from neutral
CIBC cut the rating on Rogers Communications to neutral from outperform
National Bank Financial resumed coverage on Trek Mining with an outperform rating
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange improved 3.84 points Tuesday to 821.68
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday as traders took in strong employment data ahead of a meeting between President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 48 points, or 0.2%, to 20,682. Futures for the S&P 500 acquired 3.5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,360. NASDAQ futures nicked up 0.75 points to 5,444.75
On the earnings front, Walgreens Boots Alliance reported before the bell. Bed Bath & Beyond and Yum China are due to report after the bell.
Private payrolls rose by 263,000 last month, well above a consensus estimate of 185,000. The February number was revised significantly lower, however, from the originally reported 298,000.
At 9:45 a.m., investors will have the final March reading for services Purchasing Managers Index to ponder; the previous reading was 52.9. Then, 10 a.m. brings the Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing index results, which is expected to come in at 57, compared to February's 57.6.
European markets were fairly flat by noon on the continent, while in Asia, Shanghai’s CSI 300 resumed business after a long weekend with a 1.4% gain. Japan’s Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% Wednesday.
Oil prices climbed 68 cents to $51.71 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices faded $7.90 to $1,250.50 U.S. an ounce.
