Stocks in Canada's largest centre looked set to open higher on Tuesday as markets return from an extended weekend.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 74.15 points Friday to conclude the week at 14,514.74
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.22 cents to 91.74 cents U.S. early Tuesday.
Markets were closed Monday in Canada for Victoria Day
The index slipped on Friday to its lowest in about two and a half weeks as sluggish commodity prices weighed on shares of materials companies in below-average trading volume ahead of the long weekend.
Activist investor William Ackman said on Monday that Allergan Inc's CEO has a "disabling" conflict of interest because a takeover of his company by Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc would likely mean the loss of his job.
Barrick Gold Corp has met with Chilean officials and is keen to move forward with its suspended Pascua-Lama gold and copper project, in which it has already invested more than $5 billion, Chile's new mining minister told Reuters.
National Bank Financial initiated rating on Grenville Strategic Royalty at outperform
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale sales decreased 0.4% to $50.5 billion in March. Lower sales were recorded in three of the seven sub-sectors, which together accounted for 51% of wholesale sales.
The motor vehicle and parts sub-sector recorded the largest decline in March. Excluding this sub-sector, sales edged up 0.1% to $42.3 billion.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 2.05 points Friday to 976.70
ON WALLSTREET
It has been one full week since the Dow and S&P 500 hit record highs, but investors seem happy enough in their current holding pattern.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials inched up one point to 16,482. Futures for the S&P 500 crept up 0.2 points at 1,882.50, and futures for the NASDAQ added 2.75 points, or 0.1%, to 3,616.
Investors will have some mixed results and guidance from retailers to consider.
Dow component Home Depot reported improved earnings that were a bit better than forecasts and it raised its guidance for the full-year results.
But office supply retailer Staples reported a bigger than expected drop in earnings and warned that results in the current period are likely to fall short of estimates. Its shares plunged 5% on the news.
Dick's Sporting Goods is due to report results before the opening bell, while Intuit and Salesforce.com will report after the close.
Shares of Urban Outfitters were lower in extended trading Monday after the retailer said quarterly profit fell compared to the same period last year.
There was a bit more action in international markets, with Credit Suisse shares rising by about 2% in Europe after the firm pleaded guilty to charges related to U.S. tax evasion. The Swiss bank agreed to pay $2.6 billion U.S. to settle a long-running probe.
Vodafone shares declined by about 4% in London after the company released full-year earnings results.
Overall, most European markets were edging lower in midday trading. Asian markets ended the day on a positive note, though gains were small.
Oil prices docked four cents to $102.57 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped $2.50 to $1,291.30 U.S. an ounce.
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