Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Wednesday as oil prices edged up after a report showed a decline in U.S. crude inventories.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index subsided 22.07 points to end Tuesday at 15,097.84. September futures crept up 0.1% on Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.11 cents to 78.51 cents U.S. Wednesday morning.
As the United States, Canada and Mexico kick off negotiations on Wednesday to modernize the North American Free Trade Agreement, the biggest uncertainty is whether a deal can pass President Donald Trump's "America First" test.
CIBC cut the target price on Metro Inc. to $46.00 from $48.00
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Prometic Life Sciences to sector perform
On the macroeconomic scene, Statistics Canada reported that foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $923 million in June, the first monthly divestment since July 2015.
At the same time, Canadian investment in foreign securities amounted to $13.2 billion, led by acquisitions of equities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange jumped 5.23 points Tuesday to 758.57
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a positive open on Wednesday, as investors shifted their attention to the upcoming Federal Open Market Committee minutes.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 43 points, or 0.2%, to 22,020. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 4.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,468. NASDAQ futures jumped 12.5 points, or 0.2%, to 5,924.50
Set to come out at 2 p.m. ET, investors will pore through the meeting's minutes to see what the Federal Reserve currently thinks about the state of the U.S. economy, and where their strategy could be heading.
Experts say chances for a rate hike in December were about 45%.
In financial news, Tencent Holdings and Target are some of the companies that reported quarterly earnings before the bell.
Aside from the Fed, housing starts for July totaled 1.155 million, well below the expected 1.22 million. Mortgage applications rose just 0.1% last week on a seasonally adjusted basis.
Overseas, markets in Europe were trading higher around noon on the continent, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 slumbered 0.1% and the CSI 300 in Shanghai dropped 0.1%
Oil prices gained 10 cents to $47.65 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices slid $3.30 to $1,276.40 U.S. an ounce.
