Canadian stock index futures pointed to a slightly higher open on Tuesday, helped by higher-than-expected results and a dividend increase from Bank of Montreal, with investors also looking ahead to testimony from U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.
The S&P/TSX composite index erased 50.76 points to close Monday at 12,650.87, with Tuesday futures up 0.03%.
The Canadian dollar nipped higher by 0.03 cents to 97.51 cents U.S. early Tuesday
Bank of Montreal on Tuesday reported its quarterly profit eased as lower loan recoveries at its U.S. retail bank offset higher wholesale banking and wealth management profits.
The contentious $15.1-billion takeover of Canadian oil and gas company Nexen Inc by Chinese state-owned entity CNOOC Ltd closed on Monday, more than seven months after China's largest-ever foreign takeover was announced.
First Majestic Silver Corp., which backed out of a bidding war for Orko Silver Corp last week, said fourth-quarter profit rose 5% on higher production.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 3.68 points Monday to 1,141
ON WALLSTREET
Things are getting a little messy in Italy, but Wall Street was showing signs of a rebound on Tuesday.
U.S. stocks sold off sharply Monday on concerns about Italy, with the Dow and S&P 500 suffering their biggest one-day declines of the year.
But U.S. stock futures were modestly higher early Tuesday.
Futures for the Dow Industrials increased 30 points, or 0.2%, to 13,818. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 3.6 points, or 0.2%, to 1,409.80, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 3.25 points to 2,705.50
The S&P Case-Shiller home price index for the fourth quarter of 2012 will be released at 9 a.m. ET. At 10 a.m. ET, the Conference Board will release its consumer confidence index and the Census Bureau will release data on new home sales.
In corporate news,department store chain Macy's reported net sales jumped in the fourth quarter, to $9.4 billion U.S. from a year earlier. The company also said that same-store sales rose 3.7% for the year, edging out its initial forecast of a 3.5% gain.
Home improvement retailer Home Depot reported strong year-end results, providing the latest evidence of a rebound in the real estate market. The company reported a 7% gain in same-store sales for the fourth quarter, compared to the year-earlier period.
Home Depot also said its profit surged in the fourth quarter to $1 billion U.S., or 68 cents per diluted share, compared to $774 million U.S., or 50 cents per diluted share, in the same 2011 period.
Election results released by the Italian government showed a narrow victory for the centre-left coalition headed by Pier Luigi Bersani in the lower house of parliament.
But former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and other anti-austerity parties were not far behind, and the results pointed to gridlock in the Italian Senate.
Should the Bersani coalition hold, governing will be very difficult, and investors are concerned that stalemate in the Senate could undermine the progress Italy has made in overhauling its troubled economy.
European markets were sharply lower in morning trading, while Asian markets retreated.
The Hang Seng in Hong Kong fell 1.3%, while the Nikkei in Tokyo dropped 2.3% and theShanghai Composite lost 1.4%
Oil prices dipped 69 cents to $92.42 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices added nine dollars an ounce to $1,595.60 U.S.
