The Toronto stock market looked set to open higher, while traders will be looking for hints on the pace of future interest rate hikes when the minutes of the latest meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve are released on Wednesday.
The S&P/TSX composite index was negative by 35.75 points to close Tuesday at 15,137.18
The Canadian dollar gained 0.09 cents to 93.74 cents U.S. early Wednesday
Many Canadian companies will be reporting their second-quarter earnings this month and into August.
Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver is expected to announce Wednesday that he has enough support from the provinces to set up a national securities regulator. Sources say Saskatchewan and New Brunswick are ready to join Ontario and British Columbia in supporting the proposal, which is opposed by Quebec and Alberta.
Ottawa says it would be more far effective if the financial markets were policed by one national body instead of the current patchwork of 13 regulators.
Real estate company Royal LePage said the average price of a home in Canada increased between 3.9% and 5.2% in the second quarter of 2014 and prices are expected to go up steadily for the rest of the year.
According to the Royal LePage survey, the average price of detached bungalows rose 5.2% to an average price of $406,454. Meanwhile, standard two-storey homes rose 5.1% year-over-year to $440,972, while standard condominiums posted gains of 3.9% to $258,501.
In the economic docket, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said that the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of housing starts rose to 198,200 units last month from May’s total of 197,000 units.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 3.11 points Tuesday to 1,027.52.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures are taking good vibes from the U.S. Federal Reserve this morning, ahead of what central bankers may say in their minutes this afternoon.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 18 points, or 0.1%, to 16,878. Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 2.5 points, or 0.1%, to 1,963, and futures for the NASDAQ gained five points, or 0.1%, to 3,868.25
Citigroup is reported to be close to agreeing to pay $7 billion to settle a U.S. government investigation into the sale of mortgage backed securities. The deal would include billions in help for borrowers, according to the reports.
Shares in Alcoa rose by 2% pre-market after kicking off earnings season by beating analyst estimates. Otherwise, activity was thin, with U.S. stock futures flat.
Shares in Gigamon were down more than 2% before the open, after plunging a whopping 33% on Tuesday. The technology company had lowered its revenue guidance for the second quarter.
The Fed will post minutes from its two-day June meeting at 2 p.m. ET.
Expectations among some investors that the minutes could reveal a slight bias towards raising interest rates sooner rather than later may have contributed to Tuesday's market slide.
European markets began the day lower after Wall Street's weak close Tuesday.
Asian markets lost ground as subdued China inflation data provided more evidence that the economy is struggling to pick up pace after a below-target performance in the first quarter.
Oil prices faded 16 cents to $103.24 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices took on $9.60 to $1,326.10 U.S. an ounce.
Related Stories
