The Toronto stock market appeared heading for a lower open amid slight moves in oil and metal prices while Spain and Italy were in focus as both countries dealt with higher borrowing costs.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index ended Wednesday ahead but 0.57 points to 11,497.87
The Canadian dollar was up 0.36 of a cent this morning to 97.44 cents U.S.
In earnings news, travel and vacation company Transat A.T. Inc. posted a net loss of $13.2 million or 35 cents for its latest quarter. Overall revenue rose by $111 million to $1.2 billion due an acquisition in Transat’s North American arm, offset by lower selling prices and higher costs. Analysts had been expecting a smaller loss.
Montreal-based CAE Inc. has received a total of $65 million worth of orders for full flight simulators. Among the customers is the Aviation Industry Corporation of China, or AVIC. CAE will build a flight simulator to train crews for a new medium-sized transport aircraft that AVIC is building.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange doffed 25.82 points to 1,243.88. The Nasdaq Canada index stepped back three points to 365.87
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stocks were set to open little changed as investors keep an eye on Europe and await several key U.S. economic reports.
Futures for the Dow Industrials settled 10 points, or 0.1%, to 12,419, half an hour before the opening bell, while futures for the S&P 500 shed 2.20 points, or 0.2%, to 1,306.60. Futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq gained 0.50 points to 2,523.
Shares of cellphone maker Nokia fell 9% in pre-market U.S. trading after the Finnish company announced it was cutting 10,000 jobs worldwide, and warned that competition in the smart phone business would hit results somewhat more than expected in the second quarter.
Shares of meat producer Smithfield Foods fell 4% in premarket trading after the company reported a bigger-than-forecast drop in earnings.
Grocery chain Kroger is due to report its quarterly results before the open. Analysts expect it to post earnings of 72 cents a share on $29.15 billion U.S. in revenue.
Worries remain heightened about Spain, after rating agencies Moody's and Egan-Jones both downgraded Spain on Wednesday. Moody's, which left Spain's rating just above junk status, warned that it is at risk of additional downgrades. It cited concern about Spain's debt load, its bleak economic prospects and its access to credit in private markets.
The struggling country recently requested up to €100 billion from the European Union to recapitalize its ailing banks. But with the higher borrowing costs, investors are worried the country will need even more help.
The yield on 10-year Spanish bonds peaked at 7.02% early Wednesday according to TradeWeb, the highest level since the euro was introduced in 1999, and a level that signaled the need for bailouts in other European countries earlier in the crisis. They were trading at 6.97% later in the day.
European stocks slid in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.8%, the DAX in Germany lost 0.6% and France's CAC 40 fell about 0.5%.
Asian markets ended in the red. The Shanghai Composite fell almost 1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dropped 1.2% and Japan's Nikkei shed 0.2%.
Oil for July delivery rose six cents to $82.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for August delivery edged up $1.70 to $1,621.10 U.S. an ounce.
