Stock index futures in Toronto pointed to a higher open on Tuesday after positive economic data from China indicated a recovery in the region and fears surrounding possible military action against Syria waned.
The S&P/TSX composite index fell 50.83 to finish Friday at 12,653.90, with futures Tuesday up 1.1%.
The Canadian dollar moved higher 0.22 cents to 95.02 cents U.S. early Tuesday
Canadian telecom stocks were also expected to benefit from news that Verizon Communications Inc is not planning to enter the Canadian wireless market, its chief executive said in an interview.
A member of BlackBerry's board committee tasked with exploring strategic alternatives said the company can survive as a niche smartphone maker but should sell off some parts, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Protesters gathered in Romania's capital Bucharest late on Monday for a second day of demonstrations against the government's support for a plan to open Europe's biggest open-cast gold mine to international companies such as Canadian-based Gabriel Resources Ltd.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 2.13 points Friday to 939.31
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Reports of a ballistic missile launch in the eastern Mediterranean region took the edge off a bullish stock market mood early Tuesday, with European indexes turning negative and U.S. futures trimming gains.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 105 points, or 0.7%, to 14,900. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 13 points, or 0.8%, to 1,644.30, and futures for the NASDAQ zoomed 22.75 points, or 0.7%, at 3,096.25
Russian news agency reports that two "ballistic objects" had been launched towards the eastern Mediterranean revived concerns about a U.S.-led strike on Syria.
Israel's Ministry of Defense confirmed that Israeli forces and the U.S. Missile Defense Agency had carried out a missile test and said Israel would release further information about the launch soon.
Traders were in optimistic mood after Microsoft said it was buying Nokia's mobile phones business for $7.2 billion U.S. and Verizon agreed to a $130-billion U.S. deal that will see it take full control of Verizon Wireless.
Microsoft and Nokia jointly announced late Monday that they had agreed to an all-cash deal worth 5.4 billion euros ($7.2 billion U.S.) that would see the software giant buy Nokia's mobile phone business and license many of its patents.
The momentous deal pits Microsoft squarely against Apple and Google in the hotly contested smartphone arena.
Shares in Nokia soared as much as 48% after the deal was announced.
Investors are also still assessing the transformational Verizon-Vodafone deal that sees Verizon Communications take 100% control of the Verizon Wireless business unit from Vodafone. Both companies are hiking their dividends and say the agreement will allow them to focus on their core businesses.
Plus, Time Warner Cable and CBS also reached an agreement to end a month-long blackout and restore CBS programming to about three million American viewers.
European markets turned negative in morning trading after posting some impressive gains on Monday. The major regional indexes steadied after Israel confirmed the test firing but were still narrowly weaker.
All major Asian markets closed with gains. Japan's Nikkei index surged by 3% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite pushed up by roughly 1% each.
Oil prices dipped 34 cents to $107.31 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices shed $1.30 to $1,394.80 U.S. an ounce.
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