Canada's main stock index looked set to open higher on Wednesday, tracking global markets, as signs of progress in resolving the U.S. "fiscal cliff" budget crisis boosted investor sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index was 52.99 points higher to close Tuesday at 12,334.34
The Canadian dollar sagged 0.14 cents to 101.32 cents U.S. Wednesday morning
Units of oil company Hess Corp and private equity firm Energy Investors Funds picked construction companies SNC-Lavalin Group Inc of Canada and Skanska AB of Sweden to build a power plant in New Jersey.
China National Gold Corp is set to make an announcement soon on its talks over buying a stake in African Barrick Gold, an executive at the state-owned Chinese company said on Wednesday. African Barrick is a subsidiary of Canadian-owned Barrick Gold.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada told us this morning that wholesale sales moved higher 0.9% to $49.2 billion in October, following a decline of 1.5% the previous month.
Moreover, the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in October edged up 4,600, or 0.9%, to 535,000, after a slight drop in September.
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The TSX Venture Exchange fell 5.01 points to 1,179.98
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Investors are beginning to believe that politicians in Washington can resolve the fiscal cliff stand-off after weeks of gridlock. U.S. stocks rose Tuesday amid signs that a deal is taking shape, and stock futures were firm early Wednesday.
Futures for the Dow Industrials hiked 36 points, or 0.3%, to 13,312. Futures for the S&P 500 took on 3.4 points, or 0.2%, to 1,444.50, and futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq added 9.5 points, or 0.4%, to 2,711
Fitch ratings agency repeated a warning Wednesday that it may strip the U.S. of its AAA credit rating if Washington is unable to strike a deal soon to avert the fiscal cliff and allow borrowing to rise.
Aside from the fiscal cliff talks, investors got an update on the nascent housing market recovery -- but November didn't bring good news. Ahead of the opening bell, the Census Bureau said housing starts fell 3% in November to an annual rate of 861,000.
Early Wednesday, news broke that UBS will have to pay $1.5 billion U.S. to settle claims in the U.S., U.K. and Switzerland related to rigging Libor benchmark interest rates. The settlement was widely trailed in media before Wednesday's announcement.
Also, the Treasury Department announced it will exit all of its investment in General Motors within the next 12-15 months as part of its efforts to wind down its investments in the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP). Shares of GM were up 9.7% early Wednesday.
Trading firm Knight Capital said it will merge with rival and partial owner Getco, just three weeks after Getco made its offer. Knight Capital stock gained 7.2% in premarket trading.
In other corporate news Wednesday, firms including FedEx and General Mills are scheduled to report quarterly results before the opening bell. FedEx is often view as a bellwether for the broader economy due to the nature and global scope of its business.
European markets shrugged off the UBS settlement news and remained higher in afternoon trading.
Most Asian markets ended broadly firmer, though the Shanghai Composite ended close to flat. Japanese stocks continued to lead the way on expectations of new measures to stimulate the economy. The Bank of Japan is expected to announce an increase in its asset-purchase scheme on Thursday.
Oil prices added 47 cents to $88.40 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $2.30 an ounce to $1,688.50 U.S.
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