Canadian stocks were set to open lower on Thursday as stock futures fell, tracking global markets as oil prices slipped further.
The S&P/TSX composite index lost 102.73 points to close at 14,084.43. March futures slid 0.5% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar leaped 0.85 cents to 84.53 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Samsung Electronics recently offered to buy BlackBerry for as much as $7.5 billion U.S., Reuters reported, citing a person familiar with the matter and documents.
Both BlackBerry and Samsung denied that they were in talks. BlackBerry's U.S. shares, which rose 30% after the report on Wednesday, were down 15% pre-market.
Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp denied market rumours regarding its debt obligations that briefly halted trading and sent shares to a five-year low on Wednesday.
Barclays cut the price target on Lundin Mining Corp. to $6 from $8, with an overweight rating.
Goldman Sachs raised the target price on Agrium Inc. to $118 from $109, with a neutral rating
In the economic docket, the Canadian Real Estate Association is due out with national home sales for December this morning.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 10.96 points Wednesday to 659.69
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures and European markets gave up early gains to trade lower after Switzerland stunned markets by allowing its currency to trade freely against the euro, and taking interest rates deep into negative territory.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials stepped back 15 points, or 0.1% to 17,350. Futures for the S&P 500 shed 3.75 points, or 0.2%, to 2,003.75, and futures for the NASDAQ faded 11.25 points, or 0.3%, to 4,134.25.
The market mood could swing again based on the latest set of earnings.
Bank of America, Citigroup and BlackRock will report quarterly earnings before the opening bell. Intel will report results after the close.
Failing companies may also grab attention Thursday. RadioShack is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy. The filing could come during the first week of February, according to the Wall Street Journal. RadioShack declined to comment.
Meanwhile, the operating unit of Caesars Entertainment, the owner of Caesars Palace casinos, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.
Shares in Caesars have dropped by nearly 20% since the start of this month.
Watch for volatility in BlackBerry shares Thursday. The stock soared 30% Wednesday based on a report of a takeover bid from Samsung, and then fell back as much as 16% in extended trading after BlackBerry issued a denial.
Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi -- dubbed the Apple of China -- launched what it hopes will be an iPhone killer in Beijing.
On the economic front, the U.S. government will report weekly jobless claims this morning Official data on producer prices in December will also come out at the same time.
The Swiss central bank removed its exchange rate ceiling of 1.2 Swiss francs to the euro, a cap introduced in 2011 during the euro-zone crisis to limit the flow of cash into the traditional safe-haven economy.
The franc surged against the euro, U.S. dollar and U.K. pound on the news, despite a simultaneous announcement that key Swiss interest rates were being cut to minus 0.75%.
Oil prices gained 77 cents to $49.25 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices tacked on $20.20 to $1,254.70 U.S. an ounce.
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