Futures for Canada’s main stock exchange inched higher on Wednesday ahead of the Bank of Canada's economic progress report and as the United States prepares to outline a new tax plan.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 42.11 points to end Tuesday at 15,474.12
December futures progressed 0.07% Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar surrendered 0.28 cents to 80.65 cents U.S. Wednesday morning.
Frontera Energy Corp is seeking to declare force majeure due to protests by Amazonian tribes in Peru that have halted its operations in the country’s biggest oil block, Peru’s energy regulator Perupetro said Tuesday.
RBC cut the target price on Freshii Inc. to $8.00 from $12.00
Eight Capital cut the target price on Gran Tierra Energy to $5.25 from $6.50
The United States on Tuesday unveiled draft text on labour standards during the negotiations on modernizing the North American Free Trade Agreement as top officials from the United States and Mexico met with Federal Trade Minister Chrystia Freeland in talks in Ottawa.
Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz will also hold a press conference at 12:00 p.m. ET, his first since two back-to-back rate hikes, and investors will be looking for clues as to how aggressively the central bank may tighten from here.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange retreated 6.51 points Tuesday to 775.93
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Wednesday morning as investors continued to digest comments from Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen and looked ahead to new announcements on tax reforms.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 24 points, or 0.1%, to 22,287.
S&P 500 futures gained 5.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,500.75, while futures on the NASDAQ Composite index acquired 20 points, or 0.3%, to 5,912.50
In the corporate world, Actuant is set to release its latest earnings figures before the bell. Thor Industries will report after the bell.
Yellen said Tuesday it would be "imprudent" to keep monetary policy on hold waiting for inflation to reach 2%. The quite hawkish remarks sent the dollar and U.S. bonds higher as investors grew confident of another rate hike in December.
Meanwhile, investors will be looking for details from U.S. President Donald Trump, who is due to speak on his plans for tax cuts Wednesday. The much-anticipated tax reform package is expected to be presented during a speech in Indianapolis, at 3 p.m. ET.
Durable goods orders rose 1.7% in August.
Pending home sales figures are due at 10 a.m. ET.
Overseas, European stocks edged higher nearing noon on the continent Tuesday, while Japan’s Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3%, and CSI 300 in Shanghai inched up 0.42 points.
Oil prices took on four cents to $51.92 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices dumped $10.00 to $1,291.70 U.S. an ounce.
