Futures for Canada's main stock index edged higher on Wednesday due to renewed hopes of resolving the ongoing U.S.-China trade dispute at the upcoming G20 summit.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index sank 68.56 points to close Tuesday at 14,944.09
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.08 cents at 75.13 U.S. early Wednesday
December futures galloped 0.4% Wednesday.
Royal Bank of Canada reported a forecast-beating 17% jump in fourth-quarter earnings, helped by growth in its retail banking and wealth management divisions.
Ensign Energy Services said on Tuesday 56.4% of Trinidad Drilling shares have been tendered in its hostile offer, resulting in rival bidder Precision Drilling Corp walking away and the resignation of Trinidad's top executives.
CIBC cut the price target on Bank of Nova Scotia to $86.00 from $88.00
Canaccord Genuity raised the price target on Centerra Gold to $7.50 from $6.50
RBC raised the price target on Emera to $50.00 from $46.00
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange doffed 7.58 points Tuesday to 585.52
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures posted solid gains ahead of Wednesday's open as investors awaited a key speech from the top Federal Reserve official.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials leaped 161 points, or 0.7%, to 24,093.
S&P futures added 12.75 points, or 0.5%, to 2,696.25, while the NASDAQ Composite jumped 39.25 points, or 0.6%, to 6,751.75.
Futures also rose as beaten-down technology stocks rose in the premarket. Amazon, Apple and Netflix all rose about 1% before the bell, while Alphabet gained 0.5%
Salesforce shares rose more than 8% in the pre-market after the company reported better-than-expected earnings.
Wednesday's moves come after equities closed higher in the previous session, as concerns surrounding trade showed signs of easing. The subject itself has been of key importance this week as an important G-20 summit nears, at which both President Donald Trump and China's Xi Jinping will be present.
Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to speak at the Economic Club of New York. During the event, Powell is slated to talk about the Fed's framework for monitoring financial stability. Investors are eagerly awaiting the speech as stocks have fallen in part because of fears the central bank may be tightening monetary policy too quickly.
On the data front, the gross domestic product (GDP) figures are due out at 8:30 a.m. ET.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 1% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index raced ahead 1.3%
Oil prices inched up a penny to $51.57 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained 20 cents to $1,213.60 U.S. an ounce.
