Canadian stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday, dragged down soft euro-zone data and minutes from the U.S. Federal Open Market Committee meeting which suggested the possibility of the central bank ending its stimulus program.
The S&P/TSX composite index was down 96.16 points to end Wednesday at 12,714.05, with Thursday morning futures off 0.4%.
The Canadian dollar scaled back 0.18 cents to 98.21 cents U.S. Thursday
Bombardier reported a 93% drop in fourth-quarter profit after taking a restructuring charge of $119 million.
Tim Hortons reported a dip in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday and raised its dividend even as it said a tough market may hold back sales growth in its established coffee shops during the current quarter.
Loblaw Cos Ltd posted an 18% fall in fourth-quarter profit on a restructuring charge.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dumped 40.63 points Wednesday to 1,131.17
ON WALLSTREET
A slew of economic reports and quarterly results from Walmart headline the agenda for investors on Thursday, but stocks may struggle to regain momentum after a weak business survey from Europe.
Futures for the Dow Industrials ducked back 24 points, or 0.2%, to 13,865. Futures for the S&P 500 gave back 1.4 points, or 0.1%, to 1,505.70, and futures for the NASDAQ dipped 7.75 points, or 0.3%, to 2,729.75.
On the corporate front, Walmart reported earnings that beat forecasts but said sales had softened during the quarter. The retailer also hiked its annual dividend by 18%.
Chesapeake Energy shares rose more than 2% after the company announced better-than-expected quarterly results. Safeway will also report its results in the morning, and Hewlett-Packard is up after the closing bell.
Apple shares fell 0.6% in pre-market trading, after Foxconn said it is slowing its hiring of workers at factories in China. The Taiwanese company makes about 40% of the world's consumer electronics gadgets, including products and parts for Apple, Intel and Cisco.
In the United States, initial jobless claims rose to 362,000 last week, coming in higher than economists were expecting.
The U.S. Consumer Price Index was unchanged month-over-month in January, and up 1.6% from a year ago. Core CPI, which strips the price of food and energy, increased 0.3% month-over-month in January, and 1.9% from a year earlier.
At 10 a.m. ET, the U.S. National Association of Realtors will release data on existing home sales, while the Philadelphia branch of the Federal Reserve will release its monthly business outlook survey.
U.S. stocks ended lower Wednesday after Federal Reserve meeting minutes raised worries the central bank might scale back its bond-buying program. Despite Wednesday's losses, stocks are still up between 5% and 6% so far this year.
A survey of purchasing managers showed Europe's downturn worsened in February. The index has been stuck below 50 for a year, indicating the services sector has been contracting.
European markets fell sharply in morning trading, following the disappointing data.
Asian markets ended weaker, also following the U.S. lead. The Shanghai Composite lost 3.0%, the Nikkei fell 1.4% and the Hang Seng declined 1.7%.
Oil prices docked $1.46 cents to $93.76 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices shed $6.40 an ounce to $1,571.60 U.S.
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