Futures pointed to a flat opening for Canada's main stock index on Tuesday, with investors keeping a close watch on another round of talks between Canadian and U.S. officials to revamp the North America Free Trade Agreement.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index moved lower 33.18 points to close Monday at 16,057.09
The Canadian dollar was static at 75.98 cents U.S. early Tuesday
September futures eked up 0.03% Tuesday
Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will meet U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington for another round of talks to renew the NAFTA trade pact, an official said on Monday, as time runs short to seal a deal.
Hudson's Bay Company and Signa Holding have agreed to merge Germany's two major department store chains, Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt as they seek to respond to fierce competition from e-commerce players.
CIBC cut the price target on Altagas Ltd. to $30.00 from $32.00
CIBC raises the rating on Element Fleet Management to outperform from neutral
Barclays raised the target price on Empire Company to $31.00 from $30.00
On the economic beat, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that the trend in housing starts was 214,598 units in August 2018, compared to 219,656 units in July 2018
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange grew 6.68 points Monday to 718.74
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures fell ahead of Tuesday's open as worries about global trade keep investors on edge.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 112 points, or 0.4%, to 25,793
S&P 500 futures faded 7.25 points, or 0.3%, to 2,873, while futures for the NASDAQ composite fell 22.5 points, or 0.3%, to 7,437.75
Stock futures also fell as tech was headed for another decline. Shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Tesla all fell in the pre-market. Tesla's stock dropped 2% after a Nomura analyst called the stock "no longer investable."
Last Friday, President Donald Trump said he was "ready to go" on hitting China with an additional $267 billion worth of tariffs.
The U.S. administration had already previously announced that it would impose tariffs on $200 billion in Chinese goods. Consequently, investors will be keeping abreast of this issue to see if more developments emerge.
China is reportedly set to call upon the World Trade Organization soon for authorization to inflict sanctions on the U.S., according to a meeting agenda. The reason for this is because of Washington's non-compliance with a ruling in a dispute over U.S. dumping duties that China introduced in 2013.
Boeing shares, considered a bellwether for global trade, fell 0.6% before the bell. Caterpillar also slipped 0.7%.
Elsewhere, North Korea has come back onto the agenda, after news emerged that Trump had received what The White House dubbed a "very warm, very positive letter" from Kim Jong Un, who called for a follow-up meeting with the U.S. president.
In data, investors will be paying close attention to the job openings and labour turnover survey (JOLTS), following last week's non-farm payrolls. JOLTS are due out at 10 a.m. ET.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 jumped 1.3% while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dipped 0.7%, putting the index officially into bear market territory.
Oil prices inched up 11 cents to $67.65 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $1.10 to $1,198.70 U.S. an ounce.
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