Futures for Canada's main stock index pointed to a lower opening on Monday, as oil prices dropped amid worries of an economic slowdown and a year-long Sino-U.S. trade tariff set-to.
The S&P/TSX Composite faded 63.19 points to conclude Friday at 16,341.34. Even so, the index finished up more than 69 points, or 0.4%, on the week.
The Canadian dollar demurred 0.03 cents to 75.54 cents U.S. early Monday
September futures collapsed 0.4% Monday.
Air Canada has raised the value of its offer to buy Canadian tour operator Transat AT Inc to about $720 million, or $18 per share, from its earlier offer of $13 a share
Great Pacific Capital Corp has offered to take private Canadian integrated forest products company Canfor Corp at $16 per share, or about $2 billion overall, payable in cash
Cormark Securities cut the target price on Algoma Central by two dollars to $17.00
CIBC cut the rating on Cervus Equipment to neutral from outperform
RBC raised rating CES Energy Solutions to outperform from sector-perform.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange fell 3.51 points Friday to 592.82, for a loss on the week of just less than three points, or 0.5%
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures dropped Monday morning, pressured by worries that an ongoing trade dispute between Washington and Beijing could tip the world and U.S. economies into recession.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 153 points, or 0.6%, to 26,115
Futures for the S&P 500 gave back 18 points, or 0.6%, at 2,901.75
NASDAQ futures sank 51.5 points, or 0.7%, to 7,608.75
In corporate news, Sysco and Barrick Gold are both expected to publish quarterly earnings before the opening bell. Bloom Energy and Tencent Music will report their latest results after market close.
On the data front, the federal budget for July is expected to be published at around 2 p.m. ET.
Losses accelerated in early trading after Hong Kong International Airport cancelled all departures for the remainder of the day, citing serious disruptions due to intensifying protests.
The intensified tensions caused Goldman Sachs to lower its fourth-quarter growth forecast by 20 basis points to 1.8% as the firm no longer expects a trade deal before the 2020 election.
The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) on Monday set its daily midpoint for yuan trading at 7.0211 per U.S. dollar, the third consecutive session below the psychological level of seven per dollar. It was also weaker than Friday’s session, but beat market expectations.
Overseas, in Japan, markets were shuttered for holiday Monday, while in the Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index docked 0.4%
Oil prices dipped 29 cents to $54.21 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices improved $7.20 to $1,515.70 U.S. an ounce.
