The Toronto stock market was set for a positive open Wednesday with traders anxious to see what the U.S. Federal Reserve has to say about cutting back on its asset purchases.
The S&P/TSX composite index slumped 4.32 points to end Tuesday at 13,180.09
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.25 cents to 94.02 cents U.S. early Wednesday
On the corporate front, a federal-review-panel report on Enbridge’s proposed Northern Gateway pipeline, which would link the Alberta oil sands with a tanker port on the B.C. coast will be released Thursday following more than a year of hearings.
The highly-anticipated report on the controversial project will include the panel’s recommendations for the project but the final decision on whether the pipeline can go ahead rests with the federal government.
Imperial Oil Ltd. has applied for regulatory approval to build a new oilsands project northeast of Fort McMurray, Alta., which would cost an estimated $7 billion. Imperial expects to build its Aspen project in three, 45,000-barrel-per-day phases. The first phase of Imperial’s $12.9-billion Kearl oilsands mine north of Fort McMurray started up earlier this year.
Barrick Gold Corp. said that former American Airlines chief executive Donald Carty and Signalta Capital president Robert Franklin have resigned from the company’s board of directors. Barrick has been working to revamp and improve its corporate governance.
Earlier this month, Barrick announced that founder and co-chairman Peter Munk would retire and that two other long-time directors, Howard Beck and former prime minister Brian Mulroney, would not stand for re-election.
BlackBerry Ltd. has appointed a 20-year veteran of the mobile telecommunications industry as president of its Global Enterprise Services as the struggling smartphone company focuses on its business customers. John Sims is joining BlackBerry in January from SAP, where he served as president of the business software company’s mobile services business.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported this morning that October’s wholesale trade strengthened 1.4% to $50.5 billion, compared to a market call for a 0.3% improvement, after two straight months of sub-par growth.
Higher sales were reported in five of seven subsectors, representing over 70% of wholesale sales.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 4.59 points Tuesday to 886.07
ON WALLSTREET
The Federal Reserve is back in the spotlight Wednesday.
Investors and traders are waiting for the U.S. central bank to outline plans to scale back its massive stimulus program, which has helped support a robust stock market rally over the past year.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 40 points, or 0.3%, to 15,850. Futures for the S&P 500 advanced 3.4 points, or 0.2%, to 1,776.40, and futures for the NASDAQ took on four points, or 0.1%, to 3,464.75.
General Mills shares were slightly lower after reporting earnings that missed forecasts, and FedEx shares also dipped in pre-market moves after delivering an earnings update. Oracle is set to report results after the market close.
Shares of movie theater chain AMC Entertainment are due to start trading Wednesday after the Chinese-controlled company raised $331 million U.S. from its initial public offering late Tuesday.
The central bank will announce its latest decision on interest rates at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a press conference featuring Fed chair Ben Bernanke at 2:30. If it doesn't begin to pull back on its $85-billion-U.S. per month of bond and mortgage securities purchases, investors will be parsing the bank's communications for indications of when it may start.
Market watchers are split over when the winddown -- or taper -- will take place. Some are expecting the rollback to begin this year, while others are convinced it will be pushed out to 2014.
On the economic front, the Census Bureau will release data on housing starts and building permits this morning.
In world markets, European stocks were on an upward march on Wednesday, with Germany's DAX index rising 0.9%. In the U.K., the FTSE index added 0.4% after data showed a sharp drop in the country's jobless rate.
It was a mixed finish for Asian markets. Japan's Nikkei 225 rallied 2% while Shanghai's Composite index lost 0.1%
Oil prices gained a dime to $97.32 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices increased $1.20 at $1,231.20 U.S. an ounce.
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