Canada's resource heavy main stock index looked set to open higher on Tuesday, helped by strength in commodities, though gains might be capped by uncertainty over a possible Spanish bailout and report that Bundesbank lawyers were checking the legality of the European Central Bank bond-buying plan.
The S&P/TSX composite index subtracted 70.76 points to close Monday at 12,313.54. Canada stock futures traded up 0.1%
The Canadian dollar nipped up 0.17 cents Tuesday morning to 102.38 cents U.S.
A lawyer for Enbridge Inc. said on Monday that a prominent economist opposed to its Northern Gateway oil pipeline to Canada's West Coast is wrong in her contention that the project will raise costs for refiners, regardless of where their crude comes from.
Coal miner Forbes & Manhattan Coal Corp. said on Monday it plans to acquire two South African coal mines from a unit of Rio Tinto in a bid to boost its output and enlarge its footprint in Africa.
Integrated oil whiz Husky Energy Inc. declared on Monday it had reached an impasse with the United Steelworkers union in a four-month strike at the company's 155,000-barrel-per-day Lima, Ohio, refinery.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that retail sales rose 0.7% in July, more than offsetting a decline in June. Gains were reported in eight of StatsCan’s 11 sub-sectors.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange skidded 12.26 points to 1,333.46
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were little changed Tuesday as global economic concerns continued to weigh on markets.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials added 32 points, or 0.2%, to 13,521, about 30 minutes before the opening bell. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 4.3 points, or 0.3%, to 1,445.70, and for the Nasdaq, futures gained 10.25 points, or 0.4%, to 2,848.50
In the United States, investors await reports on home prices and consumer confidence. This morning, S&P/Case-Shiller will release its 20-city home price index for July.
After the opening bell, the Conference Board will release its Consumer Confidence index for September, which is expected to have risen from last month, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com.
Investors will be keeping tabs on Europe's ongoing debt crisis as European Central Bank President Mario Draghi meets with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
International Monetary Fund head Christine Lagarde warned Monday that the continent's policymakers need to implement a centralized banking authority and carry through with the European Stability Mechanism, a planned €500-billion fund to provide loans for troubled members of the 17-nation currency union.
Worries about Europe's problems have caused the euro to keep sliding against the dollar.
European stocks were rangebound in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.1%, while the DAX in Germany shed 0.1% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.2%.
Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite lost 0.2%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong ticked up slightly, and Japan's Nikkei added nearly 0.3%.
Oil for November delivery rose 96 cents to $92.89 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery added $4.10 to $1,768.70 U.S. an ounce.
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