Canadian stocks were set for a lower opening on Monday as growing fears of a military conflict in Ukraine and last week's heavy selloff on Wall Street prompt investors to shun riskier assets.
The S&P/TSX composite index tailed off 50.31 points Friday to end the day and week at 14,257.69, with June futures off 0.02% early Monday.
The Canadian dollar took on 0.11 cents to 91.20 cents U.S. early Monday
LNG supplier Stabilis Energy said on Monday it would buy most of the U.S. assets of Encana Natural Gas Inc, a unit of Encana Corp.
Residents of the British Columbia town of Kitimat voted against the Northern Gateway pipeline project in a blow to Enbridge's efforts to expedite the flow of crude from Canada's landlocked oil sands to high-paying markets in Asia.
BlackBerry Ltd said it plans to release security updates for messaging software for Android and iOS devices by Friday to address vulnerabilities in programs related to the "Heartbleed" security threat.
Internationally, Russian stocks and the ruble dropped as the continuing strife between Russia and Ukraine ramped up to a fever pitch. Pro-Russian protesters seized a police station in Ukraine and the government threatened to oust them with a "full-scale anti-terrorist operation."
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 4.08 points to 997.77
ON WALLSTREET
Investors will open the new week with a fresh set of bank earnings and the possibility of more market volatility.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dipped 29 points, or 0.2%, to 15,952. Futures for the S&P 500 poked ahead 6.9 points, or 0.4%, to 1,818.60, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 14.25 points, or 0.4%, to 3,458.25.
All eyes will be focused this morning on Citigroup -- the third big bank to publish first quarter results.
JPMorgan Chase shares fell Friday and were slightly lower in pre-market trading after the bank reported first quarter revenue that missed expectations. Its earnings were also sharply down compared to the same quarter last year.
Wells Fargo also reported earnings Friday, but unlike JPMorgan, its earnings topped analyst expectations.
On the economic front, investors will consider the latest monthly retail sales figures from the U.S. Census Bureau.
European markets were all lower in midday trading as investors reacted to the Friday U.S. selloff and the growing threat of U.S. and European sanctions against Russia.
Asian markets closed with mixed results.
Oil prices dipped 19 cents to $103.55 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices picked up $3.80 cents to $1,322.80 U.S. an ounce.
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