The Toronto stock market looked set for a positive start to the week amid rising metal prices, while traders also looked to the kickoff of the second-quarter earnings season in the U.S. with results from resource giant Alcoa Inc.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 31.75 points to end Friday and week at 12,134.91
The Canadian dollar gained 0.28 cents to 94.77 cents U.S. Monday
Analysts at FactSet expect Alcoa to post quarterly earnings of six cents a share and revenue of $5.85 billion U.S. after the market close.
The aluminum giant earned six cents a share on revenue of $5.96 billion U.S. a year ago.
Alcoa's debt rating was downgraded to junk by Moody's Investors Service on May 29, cutting the rating by one notch to Ba1 from Baa3 with a stable outlook. Moody's cited weaker aluminum demand on slower growth in China and a recession in Europe for the move.
Speaking of things economic, Statistics Canada told us this morning that building permits for May came in at $7.3 billion, up 4.5% from April. The total value of building permits continued to trend upward on the strength of five consecutive monthly increases.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange subtracted 1.35 points Friday to 884.27
ON WALLSTREET
Markets are looking buoyant as investors await the first corporate results of the second quarter.
Futures for the Dow Industrials gained 64 points, or 0.4%, 15,140. Futures for the S&P 500 tacked on 9.20 points, or 0.6%, to 1,636.50, and futures for the NASDAQ prospered 21.50 points, or 0.7%, to 2,978.
Second-quarter earnings season kicks off with results after the close from aluminum producer Alcoa
Results are due later in the week from companies including Yum! Brands,JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, and investors will be looking for signs of economic growth working through into stronger revenues.
Asiana Airlines dropped in South Korean markets after a Boeing 777 crashed in San Francisco over the weekend. But the stock price for Boeing was little changed.
In economic news, the U.S. Federal Reserve is set to release its monthly report on consumer credit at 3 p.m. ET.
European markets made strong advances in morning trading. Both benchmark indexes in Germany and France were pushing ahead by about 2%.
But Asian markets ended in the red. The Hang Seng index and the Nikkei 225 in Japan both dropped by more than 1%. The Shanghai Composite index fell even further, down by 2.4%, on continuing concerns about slowing growth in China.
Oil prices docked 40 cents to $102.80 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $24 to $1,236.70 U.S.
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