Markets in Toronto looked set to open higher on Monday, helped by expectations Spain will request a bailout package, stronger-than-expected U.S. retail sales data and tame Chinese inflation.
The S&P/TSX composite index ended Friday down 31.91 points to 12,202.94, with futures for Monday trading up 0.2%.
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.15 cents to 102.32 cents U.S.
Stocks to watch this morning include Argonaut Gold Inc. , which said it will buy Prodigy Gold Inc for about $341 million in cash and shares, at a premium of 54% based on both companies' 20-day volume-weighted average price as of Friday.
Canadian National Railway Co.’s chief marketing officer said Friday the carrier should be able to ship twice as many carloads of crude oil in 2013 as it will this year.
Internationally, a 100-billion-euro aid request from Spain to its euro-zone partners would shave 1.5% off Italy's economic output, the finance minister in Rome was quoted as saying.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gave back 7.13 points to 1,292.81
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures were higher Monday, as investors reflected on an inflation report out of China and U.S. economic data and earnings.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials sprinted ahead 60 points, or 0.5%, to 13,305, about 30 minutes before the opening bell. Futures for the S&P 500 moved up eight points, or 0.6%, to 1,429.50, and for the Nasdaq, futures gained 19 points, or 0.7%, to 2,729.
Investors kicked off the week with quarterly results from Citigroup. The bank reported third-quarter earnings before the opening bell that topped analyst forecasts. Shares rose about 2% in pre-market trading.
On the economic front, reports on retail sales and manufacturing released in the morning showed signs of improvement.
Retail sales perked 1.1% in September, boosted by higher gas prices and electronic sales, according to the Census Bureau. That's higher than the 0.7% jump expected by analysts.
The Federal Reserve Bank of New York's monthly Empire State Manufacturing Index remained in negative territory in October, but improved to a reading of -6.2 compared to a reading of -10.4 in September.
A report Monday showed that inflation in China slowed in September. Chinese consumers paid 1.9% more for goods in September than they did a year earlier, the government's National Bureau of Statistics reported. That's down from a 2% increase in August.
Asian markets ended mixed. The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.3%, the Hang Seng in Hong Kong was little changes, and Japan's Nikkei 225 ticked up 0.5%.
Meanwhile, European stocks moved higher in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 edged up 0.6%, the DAX in Germany added 0.8% and France's CAC 40 rose 1.3%.
Oil for November delivery rose 15 cents to $92.01 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery dropped $10 to $1,749.70 U.S. an ounce.
