Toronto's main stock index looked set to open lower on Thursday, much mirroring global markets, after a raft of disappointing U.S. economic data fueled fears of a slowdown by the world's biggest economy.
Stocks to watch this morning include asset manager Sprott Inc. said its quarterly profit plunged 96% mainly due to weak precious metals prices that dragged down investments.
Oil producer Encana Corp. said it will take a final decision on the Kitimat LNG joint venture before the end of 2012, its CEO said, with the project's partners willing to offer up to 20% of the equity to potential gas buyers.
ON BAYSTREET
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 98.18 points Wednesday to 12,413.86
The TSX Venture Exchange closed Wednesday lower by 24.81 points to 1,550.25, while the Nasdaq Canada index dipped 5.09 to 409.40
The Canadian dollar sifted off 0.18 cents this morning to 99.99 cents U.S.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. index futures were down with about 40 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will fall at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were down 26 points or 0.2% to 13,027.
Futures for the broader S&P 500 were down 6.10 points or 0.4%, to 1,394.10. Both indexes fell 0.5% on Wednesday, after paring deeper losses toward the end of the day. Futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq receded 6.50 points, or 0.2%, to 2,761.50.
In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was down 0.7% and Germany's DAX index was down 1.1% in afternoon trading. There, the European Commission's economic sentiment indicator fell, versus an expectation for a flat reading.
Perhaps a bigger concern is what's going on in Spain: A general strike against government austerity measures, expected to be presented in its 2012 budget on Friday, has some observers wondering if the country is following Greece down the road toward a financial crisis.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 0.7% in overnight trading, while stocks in Hong Kong went for a tumble of 1.3%
Commodity prices were also down slightly. Crude oil fell to $104.95 U.S. a barrel, down 0.5%.
Gold fell to $1,656 U.S. an ounce, down 0.1%.
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