Futures edged up Wednesday for equities in Canada’s largest market as crude and gold prices rose, while investors hoped easing inflation could pave the way for the Bank of Canada to slow its pace of monetary tightening.
The TSX gained 67.13 points to conclude Tuesday at 20,457.46.
March futures on the S&P/TSX index advanced 0.2% Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar picked up 0.19 cents to 74.54 cents U.S.
France's BNP Paribas said that it had received all the necessary regulatory approvals to complete its previously announced sale of its U.S. unit Bank of the West to Bank of Montreal.
In a legal filing, Rogers Communications said its $20-billion acquisition of rival Shaw Communications has been delayed long enough and must be allowed to proceed despite the competition bureau's opposition.
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada’s industrial product price index declined 1.1% month over month in December and was up 7.6% year over year. The raw materials price index The Raw Materials Price Index fell 3.1% on a monthly basis in December and increased 7.5% year over year.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange shed 3.37 points Tuesday to 617.38.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were little changed Wednesday as the corporate earnings season rolled on.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials advanced 62 points, or 0.2%, early Wednesday to 34,082.
Futures for the S&P 500 gathered 13.5 points, or 0.3%, to 4,023.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite moved higher 45.5 points to 11,670.
Those moves follow earnings results from big banks that suggested diverging paths ahead even for names within the same sector. Goldman Sachs’ shares fell more than 6% following a drop in investment banking and asset management revenues. Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley gained 5.9%, boosted by better-than-expected wealth management revenue.
Wednesday, shares of United Airlines rose more than 2% in premarket trading after the company beat Wall Street’s estimates in the latest quarter, propelled by strong travel demand.
Meanwhile, shares of Moderna jumped more than 5% after the pharmaceutical company said its vaccine targeting respiratory syncytial virus can prevent the disease in older adults.
Traders are anticipating a slew of economic reports Wednesday, including the latest data for the producer price index and retail sales.
Economists polled by the Dow Jones are expecting the producer price index to have declined 0.1% in December, compared to a 0.3% rise the previous month.
Meanwhile, retail sales in December are expected to dip 1%, according to consensus estimates. The prior reading showed a decline of 0.6%.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 leaped 2.5% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index moved ahead 0.5%.
Oil prices surged $1.61 to $81.78 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices jumped $9.20 to $1,914.90 U.S. an ounce.
