Futures for Canada's main stock index inched lower on Wednesday, ahead of Bank of Canada's interest rate decision and amid a drop in oil prices and global equities.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index raced ahead 92.12 points to greet Tuesday’s closing bell at 16,628.50
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.12 cents to 74.33 cents U.S. early Wednesday
June futures were down 0.1% Wednesday.
Cenovus Energy cut its 2019 oil sands production guidance by 7% and posted quarterly earnings well below analysts' estimates, the first signs of the impact of a government ordered reduction in oil production.
Canadian yoga-pants specialists Lululemon Athletica forecast annual revenue growth in the low teens for the next five years.
Morgan Stanley raised the target price on Canadian Pacific Railway to $277.00 from $272.00
CIBC raised the target price on Pembina Pipeline to $55.00 from $54.00
CIBC raised the target price on Winpak to $48.00 from $47.00
On the economic ledger, the Bank of Canada announces its rate change (if any) this morning (around 10 a.m. EDT). Consensus is that there will BE no change.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.34 points to close Monday at 610.55
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures pointed to marginal gains at Wednesday’s open after a record close in the previous session.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average eked up 17 points, or 0.1%, to 26,656.
Futures for the S&P 500 slid 0.75 points at 2,937.25
NASDAQ futures fell 1.5 points to 7,736.50
Boeing shares rose 0.8% in the pre-market despite the aerospace giant pulling its 2019 guidance and halted share buybacks, citing uncertainty around its 737 Max aircraft. Caterpillar shares also rose 0.4% on better-than-expected earnings.
Facebook, Microsoft, PayPal, Tesla Motors and Visa are all set to release their latest quarterly figures after market close.
Market focus is largely attuned to earnings season, after better-than-feared figures from major companies in the previous session helped the Nasdaq and S&P 500 indexes reach record closing highs.
Oil prices soared after the U.S. announced the end of six months of waivers that allowed Iran’s eight biggest buyers to continue importing limited volumes of Iranian oil.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.3% Tuesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index retreated 0.5%.
Oil prices dipped 24 cents to $66.06 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices moved forward $1.90 to $1,275.10 U.S. an ounce.
