Toronto stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Tuesday as worries over U.S. monetary and fiscal policies dampened investor sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index poked ahead 4.71 to end Monday at 12,811.18, with futures down 0.1%
The Canadian dollar was flat at 97.24 cents U.S. early Tuesday
Shares of BlackBerry Ltd were expected to be active after the smartphone maker agreed on Monday to go private in a $4.7-billion U.S. deal led by its biggest shareholder. But the buyer still has to finalize financing and BlackBerry is free for now to seek better offers.
Sears Canada Inc. said Chief Executive Calvin McDonald resigned and that Chief Operating Officer Douglas Campbell would take over, effective immediately.
RBC started coverage on Brookfield Residential Properties Inc with outperform rating; price target of $27, saying the company is positioned to deliver strong earnings growth.
Raymond James cut the rating on Calfrac Well Services Ltd. to market perform from outperform, also cutting the target price to $35 from $39, saying AECO gas price is a concern.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada told us this morning that retail sales rose 0.6% in July, led by higher sales at gasoline stations. The market call was for a gain of 0.5%.
Sales have been trending upwards since the beginning of 2013. Gains were reported in eight of the 11 sub-sectors, representing 52% of total retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange settled 1.20 points Monday to 944.90
ON WALLSTREET
Markets were in a cautious mood Tuesday as concerns over U.S. monetary and fiscal policies hang over investors.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dropped 77 points, or 0.5%, to 15,326. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 1.5 points, or 0.1%, to 1,691.20, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 3.75 points, or 0.1%, to 3,212.75.
Investors are again worried about the possibility of a U.S. government shutdown and its impact on the economy. They're also wary about the Federal Reserve's next monetary policy move, since Fed members have been sending mixed messages about when the central bank will start to pump less money into markets.
On the corporate front, software maker Applied Materials announced a $29-billion U.S. merger with Tokyo Electron Limited "to create a global innovator in semiconductor and display manufacturing technology." Applied Materials' stock rose in pre-market trading.
The stock price for Red Hat, a business software maker, plunged 8% in pre-market trading. Investors showed their disappointment the day after the company reported quarterly earnings, with an increase in profit that fell short of forecasts.
Homebuilder Lennar reported a boost in quarterly earnings and revenue compared to the year-earlier quarter, with a significant increase in new-home orders.
KB Home is also scheduled to report quarterly results before the opening bell Tuesday. Carnival is also reporting ahead of the open.
Investors will also gain insight into the strength of the housing market at 9 a.m. ET, when S&P releases the Case-Shiller 20-city home price index.
The Conference Board will release its monthly consumer confidence index at 10 a.m. ET.
Meanwhile, BlackBerry announced that its largest shareholder, Fairfax Financial, was leading a group to acquire the troubled company for $9 U.S. a share. Blackberry shares edged higher in pre-market trading but were still just below the $9 mark.
European markets were in positive territory in morning trading, led by the CAC 40 in Paris, with a gain of 0.4%. Frankfurt's DAX index edged up by 0.1%, as the latest German business sentiment data shows confidence continued to improve in September.
Asian markets ended the day with some small losses.
Oil prices faded 13 cents to $103.46 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices let go of $12.00 to $1,315.00 U.S. an ounce.
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