Canada's main stock index futures edged up on Wednesday, as oil prices rose even after data showed U.S. crude inventories fell less than expected.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index dropped 8.4 points to end Tuesday at 16,502.42
The Canadian dollar gained 0.11 cents to 76.53 cents U.S. early Wednesday
September futures poked ahead 0.1% Wednesday.
RBC raised the price target on Canadian Pacific Railway to $356.00 from $342.00
CIBC raised the target price on Cogeco Communications to $109.00 from $103.00
CIBC cut the target price on NFI Group to $41.00 from $45.00
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that inflation slowed in June, as the consumer product index took on 2%, following a 2.4% increase in May.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI declined 0.1% in June.
What’s more, said the agency, manufacturing sales rose 1.6% to $58.9 billion in May, following a 0.4% decline in April.
The agency attributes much of the hike to higher sales in the transportation equipment industry.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.13 points to close Tuesday at 580.17
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Wednesday as Wall Street sifts through the latest batch of quarterly corporate results.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials improved 16 points, or 0.1%, to 27,344.
Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 1.75 points, or 0.1%, at 3,008.75
NASDAQ futures gained 11.25 points, or 0.1%, to 7,954
Bank of America reported better-than-expected earnings on Wednesday, driven by the strength of its retail banking operation.
CSX, meanwhile, posted weaker-than-forecast quarterly results. The company also said it expects full-year revenue to fall between 1% and 2%.
United Airlines reported earnings and revenue that topped analyst expectations and increased its share buyback program by $3 billion.
Cintas shares jumped more than 4% after the First Aid kit maker’s results beat expectations.
More than 7% of S&P 500 companies have reported second-quarter earnings thus far. Of those companies, about 85% have posted profits that beat analyst expectations. The reported earnings growth of those companies is about 3.1%.
Investors came into the earnings season with a bleak outlook on corporate profits. Analysts expected S&P 500 earnings to have fallen by 3% in the second quarter
President Trump on Tuesday said the world’s two largest economies have a “long way to go” on trade, and suggested that the U.S. could impose sanctions on an additional $325 billion worth of Chinese goods.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 index skidded 0.3%, while in the Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index docked 0.1%,
Oil prices gathered 59 cents to $58.21 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices slid $5.50 to $1,405.70 U.S. an ounce.
