Futures for Canada's main stock index rose on Tuesday as crude oil prices neared 11-month highs on the back of a better compliance by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries with supply cut deals and amid reports of a blast in Saudi Arabia.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index surged 60.11 points to close Monday at 17,906.02.
The Canadian dollar acquired 0.13 cents to 78.62 cents U.S.
March futures advanced 0.3% Tuesday.
Great Canadian Gaming Corp said CEO Rod Baker has resigned, after he and his wife were charged with traveling to northern Canada and misleading authorities in order to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
National Bank of Canada raised the rating on Cineplex to outperform from sector perform.
CIBC raised the target price on Onex Corp. to $92.00 from $81.00
CIBC raised the rating on TFI International to outperform from neutral.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked higher 7.07 points, to end the session at 954.50
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures rose slightly Tuesday as Wall Street geared up for the heart of corporate earnings season.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 59 points, or 0.2% points, to 30,927.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 3.5 points, or 0.1%, at 3,852.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite docked two points to 13,473.50.
Monday’s session was marked by wild swings in heavily shorted stocks, including GameStop and AMC Entertainment, as retail investors bet against short-selling hedge funds. The volatility has some investors concerned about stocks becoming detached from fundamentals and speculation in the market run rampant, behavior that occurs around market tops.
GameStop was up another 14% in pre-market trading on no news.
Tuesday brings the corporate earnings of larger companies with more impact on the market indexes. General Electric, Verizon and Johnson & Johnson are slated to report results before the bell, while tech giant Microsoft will announce its fiscal second-quarter earnings after the bell.
GE shares were 6% higher just after its results were released. J&J shares were slightly higher after the drugmaker’s earnings topped expectations.
On the COVID-19 front, health officials and policymakers continued to caution the public about new strains of the virus. Moderna said Monday that its vaccine does provide some protection against a variant found in South Africa, while officials in Minnesota reported the first U.S. confirmed case of a strain found in Brazil.
Investors are also waiting for results from other major tech companies and a new policy statement from the Federal Reserve. The central bank begins its two-day meeting on Tuesday.
Tuesday will also be the first trading session after Janet Yellen was confirmed as Treasury secretary. The former Fed chair becomes the first woman to hold the position.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 retreated 1%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index tumbled 2.6%.
Oil prices picked up 41 cents to $53.18 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices lost $1.20 to $1,854 U.S.
