Stock futures pointed to a slightly lower opening for markets in Toronto on Wednesday ahead of the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index finished down 77.23 points Tuesday to 13,400.31, with March futures sliding 0.03% Wednesday
The Canadian dollar settled 0.15 cents to 74.75 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
Sources said Mitel Networks Corp is in talks to merge with U.S. peer Polycom Inc, in a deal that would combine the voice and telephony equipment providers and heed the demands of hedge fund Elliott Management
CIBC cut the target price on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $76.00 from $82.00
Goldman Sachs cut the rating on Detour Gold to neutral
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales rose 2.3% in January to $53.1 billion, an all-time high.
Moreover, the agency said, foreign acquisitions of Canadian securities reached $13.5 billion in January, mainly private corporate debt instruments. At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $13.8 billion, mostly equities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 3.38 points Tuesday to 567.41
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are holding steady ahead of the open.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dipped nine points, or 0.1%, to 17,139, futures for the S&P 500 fell 1.75 points, or 0.1%, to 2,004.75. NASDAQ futures nicked upward 0.5 points to 4,356.75
Shares in Chipotle could tumble when trading opens after the company warned it's likely to lose $1 per share "or worse" in the first three months of 2016. The restaurant chain is fighting to win back customers after its recent E.coli outbreak. It would be Chipotle's first loss since its IPO in 2006.
FedEx and Williams-Sonoma are the key companies reporting earnings Wednesday. Results will come after the closing bell.
Investors are watching the U.S. Federal Reserve as the central bank issues its decision on interest rates at 2 p.m. ET. Fed Chair Janet Yellen will explain the decision at a press conference at 2:30 p.m.
The world's top oil producers are finally meeting to talk about their problems. A meeting between members of OPEC and other major oil producers will take place on April 17 in Doha.
European markets are edging up in early trading. Asian markets closed the day with mixed results.
Oil prices soared 72 cents to $37.06 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices fell $2.65 to $1,229.73 U.S. an ounce.
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