Futures for Canada's main stock index rose on Wednesday after oil prices spiked on rising supply concerns amid an intensifying Russian assault on Ukraine, while investors awaited Bank of Canada's rate decision due later in the day.
The TSX Composite tumbled 143.8 points to close Tuesday at 20,982.56.
The TSX Venture added 2.96 points to 852.53.
The Canadian dollar increased 0.23 cents to 78.80 cents U.S.
March futures jumped 0.9% Wednesday morning.
Canada ratcheted up pressure on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine by shutting ports to Russian-owned ships and saying that holdings of all Russian oligarchs and companies in the country were under review.
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Aecon Group to sector perform from outperform
CIBC raised the target price on Bank of Montreal to $160.00 from $158.00
CIBC raised to outperformer from neutral
The Bank of Canada is poised to announce its interest decision about 10 EST this morning, and there is suspicion the central bank is about to pull the trigger on the first of a succession of rate hikes.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures rose Wednesday morning as oil prices surged amid the intensifying conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 91 points, or 0.3%, to 33,357.
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 8.25 points or 0.2%, to 4,312.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite index gained 15 points, or 0.1%, to 14,020.50.
The moves came as oil prices trekked upward, building on a massive move in the previous session. Futures for both U.S. crude and international benchmark Brent crude futures rose about 7% each. West Texas Intermediate most recently traded at $111.75 and Brent was at $113.45.
The move appeared to boost oil stocks, with Exxon and Chevron each rising about 2% in premarket trading. However, the rising energy costs have also increased concerns about inflation and a potentially slowing economic recovery.
The move appeared to boost oil stocks, with Exxon and Chevron each rising about 2% in premarket trading. However, the rising energy costs have also increased concerns about inflation and a potentially slowing economic recovery.
Earnings boosted several other stocks in extended trading. Nordstrom spiked by nearly 35% on strong earnings while SoFi surged around 18%. On the downside, First Solar shares tumbled nearly 15% after the company misses estimates on revenue and issued disappointing guidance
Markets also were digesting the State of the Union speech from President Joe Biden, who offered little in the way of new policy details while urging support for Ukraine and reiterating many of the goals for his domestic agenda.
Earnings season continues with several tech companies set to report on Wednesday. Okta, Pure Storage and C3 AI will report after the market closes. ChargePoint is also scheduled to report after the bell.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index settled 1.7%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slid 1.8%.
Oil prices charged up $8.22 to $111.63.
Gold prices eased nine dollars to $1,934.00.
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