Futures Stumble with Gold Prices

Futures for Canada's main stock index edged lower on Tuesday, weighed by a drop in gold prices.

The S&P/TSX Composite finished Monday down 40.24 points to 16,495.09.

The Canadian dollar was unchanged at 75.94 cents U.S. early Tuesday

September futures gave back 0.2% Tuesday.

Shopify said on Monday it would buy warehouse technology provider 6 River Systems Inc for about $450 million, as it looks to accelerate growth of its fulfillment network.

Suncor Energy will invest $1.4 billion to install two co-generation units at its Oil Sands Base Plant, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25%

Northland Power said on Monday it would buy most of Colombian utility Empresa de Energia de Boyaca in a deal valued at $1.05 billion, including debt.

CIBC raised the target price on Enghouse Systems to $43.00 from $41.50

Scotiabank raised the target price on Torex Gold Resources to $23.00 from $19.00

Citigroup cut the target price on Toronto-Dominion Bank to $82.00 from $90.00

On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported the number of building permits issued by Canadian municipalities rose 3.0% to $8.3 billion in July, largely due to increases in multi-family and commercial permits in July.

Elsewhere, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation reported that the trend in housing starts was 218,998 units in August 2019, compared to 208,931 units in July 2019.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange erased 4.8 points Monday to 583.71

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stocks were set to open slightly lower Tuesday as tech shares resumed a decline that started in the previous session.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials fell 25 points early Tuesday to 26,797.46

Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 6.5 points, or 0.2%, at 2,971.75

NASDAQ Composite futures faded 24.25 points, or 0.3%, to 7,806.50

Shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix and Alphabet all fell at least 0.3% in the pre-market.

Ford Motor was the biggest decliner in the S&P 500, dropping 3.7%. The stock fell after Moody’s downgraded the auto maker’s credit rating to junk status, citing below-expectations profit margins and cash flow.

Apple has an event planned for this morning (10 a.m. ET), where the tech giant is due to launch new products.

Meanwhile, media reports say Huawei dropped one of its lawsuits against the U.S. after some equipment seized by Washington nearly two years ago was returned to the company.

Huawei’s lawsuit drop is the latest sign that tensions between the U.S. and China are easing ahead of a meeting scheduled for Oct. 1.
Investors will be looking ahead to a new Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey (JOLTS), due at 10 a.m. ET. Earlier in the day, a small business data survey will be released.

Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 advanced 0.4% Tuesday, while in the Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index moved forward 2.28 points.

Oil prices gained 62 cents to $63.21 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices fell $11.50 to $1,499.60 U.S. an ounce.