The Toronto Stock Exchange appeared poised to extend losses at the open Wednesday as commodity prices lost ground amid negative investor sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite index plummeted 56.36 points to end Tuesday at 12,257.18
The Canadian dollar backtracked 0.34 cents Wednesday morning to 101.65 cents U.S.
In a major Canadian deal, Onex Corp. is leading a $718-million deal to acquire a 4,000-employee German manufacturing company, the first European investment for the Toronto-based company's flagship private equity fund.
In Canadian economic news, the Conference Board of Canada said consumer confidence showed improvement this month, following a weak showing in August. The Ottawa-based economic forecaster says its Index of Consumer Confidence increased 6.7 points to 82.2.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plunged 20.25 points Tuesday to 1,313.21
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were little changed Wednesday as investors watched unrest in Greece and Spain.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials sank five points to 13,400, about 30 minutes before the opening bell. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 3.90 points, or 0.3%, to 1,433.30, and for the Nasdaq, futures dipped 11 points, or 0.4%, to 2,792.25
At 10 a.m. ET, the U.S. Census Bureau will release data on new home sales for August, and analysts surveyed by Briefing.com expect that to come in at an annual rate of 380,000.
Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets in Greece in protest of new austerity measures. In Spain, anti-austerity protests in Madrid turned violent ahead of the Spanish government's intended release of its 2013 budget plans.
Yields on 10-year Spanish bond shot up to 6.02% after the leader of Catalonia -- the country's richest region -- called for early elections, signaling a lack of confidence in Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy. The prime minister is due to speak in New York on Wednesday.
European stocks slid in midday trading. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 1.2%, the DAX in Germany dropped 1.6% and France's CAC 40 tumbled 2.1%. European turmoil pushed the dollar up against the euro. It also gained versus the British pound but fell against the Japanese yen.
China stocks continued to struggle on economic growth concerns. Making matters worse, China's territorial dispute with Japan over islands that sit over a vast natural gas reserve are worsening trade relations and hurting companies in both countries.
Asian markets ended in the red, with the Shanghai Composite down 1.2%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong shed 0.8%, and Japan's Nikkei dropped 2%.
Oil for November delivery fell 69 cents to $90.68 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery rose 20 cents to $1,766.60 U.S. an ounce.
