Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada's main stock index on Wednesday as concerns over the Chinese economy resurfaced after it allowed the yuan to weaken further and a nuclear test by North Korea added to a growing list of geopolitical worries.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 7.01 points to close Tuesday’s session at 12,920.14
March futures decreased 1.3% Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar eased 0.48 cents to 70.98 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
Sources say Valeant Pharmaceuticals International will appoint an interim chief executive to replace Michael Pearson, who is hospitalized.
Israeli real estate developer Gazit-Globe said it sold a 2.9% stake in Canadian unit First Capital Realty for $117 million
Canaccord Genuity cut the target price on Dream Unlimited Corp. to $10.00 from $12.00
National Bank raised the target price on Lumenpulse Inc. to $20.00 from $18.00 with an outperform rating
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported this morning that this country’s imports decreased 0.7% in November and exports increased 0.4%. Import volumes declined 1.6% while prices increased 0.9%. For exports, volumes were up 0.7% while prices declined 0.4%.
As a result, the agency says, Canada's merchandise trade deficit with the world narrowed from $2.5 billion in October to $2 billion in November.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange faded 1.39 points Tuesday to 524.26
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are dropping by more than 1.5%
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials tumbled 286 points, or 1.7%, to 16,795, futures for the S&P 500 slumped 36.75 points, or 1.8%, to 1,975.5. NASDAQ futures dropped 91.75 points, or 2.1%, to 4,392.
Shares in Apple are dropping by more than 2.5% pre-market after falling 2.5% Tuesday on reports that it is cutting iPhone production due to weak orders.
Oil and gas producer Pioneer Natural Resources is down about 7% pre-market after announcing it would issue 12 million new shares to fund expansion.
Agricultural products giant Monsanto is due for an earnings update before the opening bell rings on Wall Street.
Meantime, investors will be watching for U.S. export and import data from November. At 10:30 a.m., the U.S. is due for a weekly crude inventories report.
At 2 p.m., the Federal Reserve will post the minutes from its Dec. 16 meeting, where officials decided to raise U.S. interest rates for the first time in nearly a decade. The minutes may provide new clues about what the Fed has in store for rates in 2016.
As the diplomatic standoff between Saudi Arabia and Iran continues, there's more worrying news from Asia. North Korea said it carried out a hydrogen bomb test, which if confirmed would be a first for the reclusive regime and a significant advancement for its military ambitions.
Markets in Europe and Asia are mostly lower. Asian markets ended the session slightly lower, except for markets in China, where the Shanghai Composite ended up 2.25%.
China’s services sector grew at its weakest pace for 17 months in December. China stocks dropped after the open, but steadied to close more than 2% higher on reports that the government was taking more steps to support the markets.
Oil prices dipped $1.20 to $34.77 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $6.46 to $1,084.14 U.S. an ounce.
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