Futures for Canada’s main equity index fell on Wednesday after a weak U.S. manufacturing report added to global growth worries.
The TSX Composite Index plunged 210.97 points, or 1.3%, to wrap up a tumultuous Tuesday at 16,477.66
The Canadian dollar let go of 0.12 cents to 75.51 cents U.S. early Wednesday
December futures skidded 0.5% early Wednesday.
Cenovus Energy lowered its spending forecast for the year and said it will raise its quarterly dividend, as the company focuses on giving more
money back to shareholders.
Gambling group Flutter Entertainment is merging with Toronto-listed Stars Group in an all-share deal that will create one of the world’s largest online betting and gaming operators.
Scotiabank cut the rating on Canadian National Railway to sector perform from outperform.
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Air Canada to $57.00 from $55.00
National also cut the rating on Freehold Royalties to sector perform from outperform.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.77 points Tuesday to 554.91
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures fell sharply on Wednesday as investors worried over the possibility of an economic recession.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dwindled 132 points, or 0.5%, early Wednesday to 26,389.
Futures for the S&P 500 stumbled 14 points, or 0.5 %, at 2,923.75
NASDAQ Composite slipped 43.25 points, or 0.6% to 7,652.25
Tech shares fell in the pre-market. Facebook dropped 1%, and Amazon sank 0.8%. Netflix lost 0.6% while Alphabet slid 0.7%. Industrial shares such as Caterpillar and Union Pacific pulled back more than 1% each.
Concern around the economy was sparked on Tuesday after the Institute for Supply Management said U.S. manufacturing activity fell last month to its lowest level in more than 10 years.
The weak data sent the major indexes tumbling on Tuesday, the first day of the fourth quarter. The Dow dropped more than 300 points while the S&P 500 slid 1.2%, their biggest one-day drops since Aug. 23. Those losses were enough to wipe out the Dow and S&P 500's gains for the entire third quarter.
Wall Street’s focus will remain on the economic data on Wednesday as ADP and Moody’s Analytics release their monthly private payrolls report. The data is seen by investors as a preview to the government’s monthly jobs report, which will be released Friday.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 shed 0.5% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index returned from holiday to fall 0.2%.
Oil prices gained 32 cents to $53.94 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $3.50 to $1,492.50 U.S. an ounce.
