Toronto's main stock index was set to open little changed on Tuesday, as disappointing U.S. economic data and soft oil prices offset hopes an injection of loans from the European Central Bank would help markets.
The Canadian dollar squirted up 0.2 cents to 100.32 cents U.S.
Among Canadian stocks to watch this morning, Bank of Montreal reported a 34% rise in quarterly earnings, driven by lower losses for bad loans and its acquisition of Wisconsin lender Marshall & Ilsley last year.
Oilfield services provider Calfrac Well Services Ltd. said its fourth-quarter profit jumped nearly fivefold on continued drilling boom in North American oil and gas basins, and the company boosted its dividend payout for the second time in just over two months.
U.S. index futures were higher with about 30 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will rise at the start of trading.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were up 21 points or 0.2% to 12,990 -- putting the blue-chip index on track to rise above the 13,000-point threshold yet again, following a number of attempts. Futures for the broader S&P 500 settled 0.4 points to 1,366.90. Futures for the tech-heavy Nasdaq index gained 1.5 points, to 0.1%, to 2,609.50.
Stocks were up overseas as well. The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.2% and Germany's DAX index was up 0.5% in afternoon trading. On Monday, German policy makers passed a second bailout for Greece.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 0.9% in overnight trading.
Crude oil dipped slightly to $108.28 U.S. a barrel, down 0.3%. On Friday, it hit its highest level since last May, amid tensions with Iran, stocking concerns that rising energy will start to bite into consumer confidence and economic growth.
Gold, however, moved higher. It rose to $1,780 U.S. an ounce, up 0.3%
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