Canada's main stock index looked set to open lower on Tuesday after data showed China's manufacturing sector shrank at its fastest pace in three years, further stoking fears about the health of the world's second-largest economy.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed down 5.95 points Monday at 13,859.12. September futures on the S&P TSX index were down 2.3% on Tuesday.
The Canadian dollar doffed 0.39 cents to 75.71 cents U.S. early Tuesday
Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc is buying rights to AstraZeneca Plc's late-stage experimental psoriasis drug brodalumab after it was dropped by Amgen Inc in May.
Penn West Petroleum Ltd cut its 2015 capital budget for the third time this year, suspended its dividend and said it would lay off about 35% of its workforce as it copes with a slump in crude oil prices.
The province of Alberta, which has been hammered by falling crude prices, is forecasting a record budget deficit of $5.9 billion this year, a number that could increase to $6.5 billion, Finance Minister Joe Ceci said on Monday.
BMO raised the target price on Element Financial Corp to $24.00 from $23.00
CIBC cut the target price on National Bank of Canada to $47.00 from $48.00
CIBC also cut the target price on Royal Bank of Canada to $83.00 from $84.00
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that, after falling for five consecutive months, real gross domestic product rose 0.5% in June. However, there was a second-quarter decline of 0.1% following a 0.2% decrease in the first quarter, technically putting Canada into a recession.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange strengthened 3.81 points Monday to 559.48
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were sharply lower and international markets traded deep in the red.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials wilted 359 points, or 2.2%, to 16,149, futures for the S&P fell 44 points or 2.2%, to 1,925.25, and futures for the NASDAQ collapsed 100.5 points, or 2.4%, to 4,171.25.
Dollar Tree is one of a small crop of companies reporting quarterly earnings before the opening bell. Shoe Carnival and H&R Block are among the firms reporting this afternoon.
Watch Netflix shares Tuesday. The stock is trading down 4.4% pre-market. On Sunday the company revealed a batch of big movies would be removed the internet streaming site as it decided not to renew a distribution deal with Epix.
Amazon was another notable pre-market mover, down 2.7%.
It's a light day for U.S. economic releases, with July construction spending data due out from the Census Bureau later this morning.
European markets are sharply lower in early trading, with Germany's DAX down 2.7% and France's CAC index dropping 2.5%.
Asian markets ended with losses. China's Shanghai Composite gave up 1.2% and Japan's Nikkei index slumped 3.8%.
Stock markets in China ended with more losses after new figures showed the world's second largest economy is losing steam. An official gauge of factory activity fell to a three-year low in August.
Concerns are mounting over the health of the Chinese economy -- which is now posting its weakest growth since the financial crisis -- and head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, warned Tuesday that developing countries should brace for the impact.
Oil prices slipped $1.65 to $47.55 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices added $7.60 to $1,140.10 U.S. an ounce.
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