Futures for Canada's main stock index edged higher on Wednesday as gold prices gained, with investors watching out for the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest meeting amid growing concerns about a tighter monetary policy stateside.
The S&P/TSX Composite gained 13.68 points to end Tuesday at 21,236.52.
The Canadian dollar sank 0.21 cents to 78.50 cents U.S.
March futures eked higher 0.1% Wednesday.
WonderFi Technologies backed by investor Kevin O'Leary, agreed to buy Bitbuy's parent company First Ledger Corp for about $206 million, giving it full ownership of the Canadian crypto marketplace.
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on Computer Modelling Group to buy from hold.
National Bank of Canada raised the price target on Toromont Industries to $126.00 from $125.00
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada the total value of building permits increased 6.8% to $11.2 billion in November.
The agency went on to say seven provinces, led by Alberta (+20.6%) reported increases. Construction intentions in the residential sector rose 12.0% while the non-residential sector declined 3.4%.
Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on Tuesday called for an investigation into reports of maskless revelers on a recent Sunwing Airlines flight to Cancun, as the country battles soaring cases of COVID-19.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange inched up 1.39 points Tuesday to 940.57.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were mixed in early morning trading Wednesday after the Dow Jones Industrial Average notched a record close the previous day as investors flocked to shares that stand to benefit from an economic recovery.
Futures for the 30-stock index dipped 22 points, or 0.1%, to 36,652.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 5.75 points, or 0.1%, to 4,778.50.
Futures for the NASDAQ declined 69.5 points, or 0.4%, to 16,206.25.
Early losers included Dow component Salesforce, which fell more than 2% in pre-market trading following a downgrade from UBS, which also cut Adobe, sending its shares down 1.8%.
Markets also faced pressure from stocks associated with the economic reopening: Wynn Resorts fell 2%, while Las Vegas Sands was off 1.5%. With COVID cases rising, pharma companies were under pressure, with Regeneron down 3% following a downgrade from Bank of America.
Bank of America gave an upgrade to Pfizer, however, noting that the company’s profits from COVID treatments provide upside for the stock. Shares moved 1.7% higher in pre-market trading.
The moves come as investors look for clues on where the economy stood heading into the New Year.
ADP’s monthly private payrolls count proved to be 807,000 for December, well ahead of the Dow Jones estimate for 375,000 and the November gain of 505,000. The report comes ahead of Friday’s more closely watched non-farm payrolls count, which is expected to show a gain of 422,000.
Investors also awaited the release of minutes from the December Federal Reserve meeting. Policymakers decided then to accelerate the pace of the monthly bond buying taper and indicated that three quarter-percentage-point interest rate hikes are coming in 2022. They also adjusted their outlook on inflation and economic growth.
Overseas, markets in Japan were stable, with the Nikkei 225 inching up 0.1% Wednesday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong plummeted 1.6%.
Oil prices gained 22 cents to $77.21 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gathered $3.60 to $1,818.20 U.S. an ounce.
