The Toronto stock market appeared set for a sharply lower open Tuesday as global growth concerns pushed commodity prices lower for a second day.
Uncertainty over the level of participation by private creditors in Greece’s planned bond swap also discouraged buyers.
Falling prices for oil and metals pushed the commodity-sensitive Canadian dollar down 0.43 of a cent to 100.15 cents U.S.
Traders also took in a strong earnings report from Scotiabank. The bank’s quarterly profits rose to $1.44 billion, or $1.20 per share, up from $1.25 billion or $1.08 per share a year ago. Revenue grew to $4.64 billion from $4.19 billion.
Scotiabank also upped its dividend by three cents a share to 55 cents.
In other earnings news, Uranium One Inc. improved its fourth-quarter results in 2011 helped by the absence of a series of one-time items booked a year earlier.
The company, one of the world’s largest publicly traded uranium producers, posted a $1.1-million loss in the fourth quarter, or nil per share, compared to a $112.9 million loss a year ago.
Revenue grew to $157.9 million from $152.3 million.
U.S. stock futures were down with about 30 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will fall at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were down 81 points or 0.6%. Futures for the broader S&P 500 were down 10.6 points or 0.8%, and for the Nasdaq, futures were lower by 21.5 points, or 0.8%, to 2,594.50
Both indexes fell slightly on Monday after China's new growth target came close to the 7% threshold that some see as a hard-landing. A Greek debt swap is also hanging over markets this week, with private sector bondholders needed to exchange current bonds for new ones at a 53.5% haircut.
The exchange is set to end on Thursday, and is an essential step to paving the way toward a bailout.
In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 1.1% and Germany's DAX index was down 1.5% in afternoon trading. Recent economic signals have pointed to a recession in the region.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.6% in overnight trading, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index went for a 2.2% tumble.
There were no major U.S. or Canadian economic reports due for release.
Crude oil fell to $106.06 U.S. a barrel, down 0.6%.
Gold fell 1% to $1,687 U.S. an ounce.
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