Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada's main stock index on Monday after an unexpected economic contraction in Japan added to worries about global growth.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 64.33 points to end the day and the week at 14,843.10, with December futures down 0.2%.
The Canadian dollar settled 0.22 cents to 88.39 cents U.S. early Monday.
Canadian buyout firm Onex Corp. is leading the bidding for Swiss packaging group SIG Combibloc Group, according to a source familiar with the deal.
Osisko Gold Royalties Ltd, which holds interests in gold assets across Canada, said it would buy gold explorer Virginia Mines Inc for about $479 million.
JPMorgan Chase said its agreement relating to the Sears Card and Sears MasterCard credit cards in Canada will terminate on the expiration date of Nov. 15, 2015, a setback for the struggling clothing and household goods retailer.
Economically speaking, the world's third-largest economy unexpectedly shrank by an annualized 1.6% in July-September.
At home, Statistics Canada reported that Canadians bought up more foreign securities in September, adding $8.6 billion worth to their holdings. Meanwhile, foreign investment in Canadian securities slowed to $4.4 billion, mostly private corporate instruments.
Elsewhere, the Canadian Real Estate Association was set to release national home sale figures for October this morning.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange leaped 11.76 points Friday to 766.63.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures were negative in New York, as investors took in all the gloom from overseas markets, particularly Asia.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faded 24 points, or 0.1%, to 17,580. Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 4.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,033.75, and futures for the NASDAQ fell four points, or 0.1%, to 4,218.
Shares in Pfizer were down 2% pre-market after it announced a cancer drug development deal with Merck KGaA(MKGAF) of Germany. Pfizer said it would make an upfront payment of $850 million, and cut its earnings guidance for 2014 by 10 cents to $1.40-$1.49 U.S. per share.
Allergan was up 6% pre-market, boosted by several reports suggesting the maker of Botox could be bought by Actavis as early as Monday. That would allow it to escape a hostile bid from Valeant, which has the backing of major Allergan shareholder Bill Ackman.
Facebook is working on a new product aimed at connecting people at work, and challenging professional networks run by rivals such as LinkedIn, Google and Microsoft, according to the Financial Times.
Tyson Foods will report quarterly earnings before the opening bell and Urban Outfitters will post after the close
The Japanese economy slipped into recession in the third quarter, a surprisingly poor performance that could delay a planned sales tax hike and trigger new elections. GDP shrank by an annualized 1.6% in the three months ended September.
News of Japan's recession sent the Nikkei tumbling nearly 3% and most other major markets in Asia closed in the red.
European markets got off to a weak start in early trading, hit by the shock from the world's third biggest economy.
Oil prices slipped 89 cents to $74.93 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained another $1.80 to $1,187.40 U.S. an ounce.
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