Canada's main stock index looked set to open lower on Friday, tracking softer global market, as investors remained skeptical over a looming fiscal crisis while euro zone's debt problems also weighed on market sentiment.
The S&P/TSX composite fell 39.54 points to end Thursday at 12,191.05. Futures slumped 0.7% Friday morning.
The Canadian dollar was down to 99.78 cents U.S. Friday morning.
Telus Corp, Canada's third-largest wireless company, reported an 8% rise in third-quarter profit as it added more postpaid customers than those of larger rival Rogers Communications Inc.
Enerplus reported a third-quarter loss due to certain asset impairments and said it expects growth to slow down next year as it cuts capital spending by 20%.
China's top offshore oil and gas producer, CNOOC Ltd, said it is confident of winning regulatory approval from Canada this year for its $15.1-billion bid for oil producer Nexen Inc. even though Ottawa has extended its review of the deal twice.
Alliance Grain Traders Inc. reported lower quarterly profit on Thursday, even as it said problems for its customers accessing credit were beginning to ease.
TMX Group Ltd., the operator of the Toronto Stock Exchange, reported a profit in its first quarterly results after it was bought by a group of Canadian banks, pension funds and insurers.
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The TSX Venture Exchange remained positive 7.78 points to 1,298.68
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U.S. stock futures were lower Friday, as disappointing corporate results weighed on sentiment, setting the market up for a third straight day of declines.
The Dow Jones Industrials futures docked 61 points, or 0.5%, to 12,714 while S&P 500 futures lost 5.2 points, or 0.4%, to 1,370.10, and futures for the tech-rich Nasdaq let go of 5.5 points, or 0.2%, to 2,566.50.
J.C. Penney reported a much bigger than expected loss, sending its shares tumbling more than 8% in pre-market trading. The company lost 93 cents U.S. a share excluding special items, while analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were forecasting a loss of only seven cents U.S. Sales also fell short of forecasts. It marked the third straight quarter of bigger than forecast losses at J.C. Penney as new CEO Ron Johnson struggles to remake the company.
After the closing bell Thursday, Disney reported earnings in line with analyst expectations but sales of the entertainment company were a bit short of forecasts. Shares of the Dow component were down 3% in pre-market trading.
Shares of daily deals site Groupon plunged 15% in pre-market trading Friday, a day after quarterly results missed expectations.
In economic news, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics will release figures on import and export prices, while reports on consumer sentiment and wholesale inventories are due later in the morning.
The University of Michigan's preliminary version of its consumer sentiment index for November is expected to come in at 83, according to a survey of analysts by Briefing.com, up from 82.6 last month.
Wholesale inventories for September are expected to have increased by 0.4%
European stocks were lower in morning trading. Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.5%, the DAX in Germany dropped 1.1% and France's CAC 40 slipped 0.3%.
Asian markets closed in the red. The Shanghai Composite edged down 0.1%, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong and Japan's Nikkei each dropped 0.9%.
Oil for December delivery fell 34 cents to $84.75 a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery edged up $4.40 to $1,730.40 an ounce.
