Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for stocks in this country on Wednesday as oil prices recovered. Strong Japanese economic data and lower crude oil storage figures from the American Petroleum Institute provided much of the push.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index closed down 120.36 points, or 0.9%, to 12,922.45, its weakest close since October 2013. Futures Wednesday eked up 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.09 cents to 73.70 cents U.S. early Wednesday
Vancouver-based yogawear retailer Lululemon Athletica reported a 12% fall in third-quarter profit as costs soared.
Executives of Canadian Pacific Railway touted the benefits of the firm’s proposed bid for U.S. railroad Norfolk Southern Corp during a call with analysts on Tuesday, but made it clear they would court activist investors and shareholders to fight a proxy battle to complete the deal.
Rodman and Renshaw initiates coverage on Newmarket Gold with a buy rating
TD Securities cut the rating on TMX Group to hold from buy
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange backtracked 0.95 points Tuesday to 506.34.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are looking soft and most European markets are in negative territory in early trading.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones eked up three points to 17,537, futures for the S&P 500 faded 3.75 points, or 0.2%, to 2,055. NASDAQ futures were not available at press time.
Shares in Dow Chemical and DuPont are soaring by about 10% pre-market after the Wall Street Journal and Financial Times reported that the companies are in talks about a massive merger.
Shares in Yahoo are rising by about 2% pre-market after Yahoo's board announced it would not spin off its Alibaba stake as previously planned. Instead, it is thinking about a reverse spinoff -- transferring the group's other businesses to a new company, and distributing shares to investors.
Yahoo has a 15% share in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba, worth about $30 billion. The company halted the Alibaba spin-off plan due to concerns about a gigantic tax bill of about $10 billion U.S.
The tech pioneer has been lumbering through an attempted turnaround and has been weighing its next steps.
Shares in gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson are looking weak pre-market after the firm reported earnings on Tuesday that showed quarterly sales were up 32% from last year.
While the results were impressive, investor reaction was tepid since the company's shares have already surged by 126% this year.
Lululemon is reported ahead of the open while Men's Wearhouse is reporting after the close.
Most Asian markets tumbled on Wednesday and closed in the red.
Oil prices added 33 cents to $37.84 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $4.97 to $1,079.93 U.S. an ounce.
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