Futures for Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, weighed by a 3% slide in crude prices, with concerns surging cases of the Omicron coronavirus variant might curb global economic recovery further denting sentiment.
The S&P/TSX Composite dipped 0.77 points to close Friday at 20,739.01, though the reading fell 151 points, or 0.73%, for the last five sessions.
The Canadian dollar slipped 0.13 cents to 77.37 cents U.S.
March futures were down 0.6% Monday.
BNP Paribas said on Monday it is to sell U.S. unit Bank of the West to BMO Financial Group for $16.3 billion U.S. in a deal that will give France's biggest bank a huge step up in firepower for deals and buybacks.
CIBC raised the target price on Cenovus Energy to $24.00 from $22.00
RBC cut the target price on Enghouse Systems to $65.00 from $70.00
RBC raised the target price on Shawcor to $9.00 from $8.50
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 5.47 points Friday to 893.92, still in the minus category for the week, though, by 15 points, or 1.66%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were lower in early morning trading Monday following a losing week as investors continued to grapple with the resurgence of COVID cases and an upcoming shift in the Federal Reserve’s easy monetary policy.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hurtled lower 413 points, or 1.2%, to 34,840.
Futures for the S&P 500 toppled 56.5 points, or 1.2%, to 4,553.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ stumbled 224 points, or 1.4%, to 15,564.
The omicron variant is raging across the world as the winter holiday season approaches. The strain has been found through testing in 43 out of 50 U.S. states and around 90 countries, and the number of cases is doubling in 1.5 to three days in areas with community transmission, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Saturday.
U.S. cases are jumping into year-end with more than 156,000 reported on Friday, according to CDC data.
Reopening plays were the biggest losers once again in pre-market trading Monday. Royal Caribbean shed 4%. United Airlines and Southwest fell more than 3% each. Darden Restaurants also lost 3%. Energy shares, banks, industrials and retailers were also broadly lower in early trading.
Moderna was higher by 5% after saying its vaccine booster dose provides significant protection against omicron.
Goldman Sachs cut its GDP forecast , cutting its first-quarter 2022 forecast to 2% from 3%. The firm also lowered its second-quarter and third-quarter growth forecasts.
Some investors are hoping for a Santa Claus rally into the year-end, which calls for positive market performance in the last five trading days of the year and first two trading days of January, according to Stock Trader’s Almanac.
Despite the losses last week, the S&P 500 is still up 1.2% this month, bringing its 2021 gains to 23%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ is down 2.4% in December so far, however, as technology names sold off. The blue-chip Dow has gained 2.6% this month.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 dropped 2.1% Monday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 1.9%.
Oil prices skidded $3.43 to $67.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $6.90 to $1,798 U.S. an ounce.
