Canadian stock market futures fell more than 1% on Thursday, pointing to a sharply lower open, after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke signaled a clearer timeline for the central bank to begin to curb its monetary easing policy.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index faded 99.17 points, to end Wednesday at 12,268.29
The Canadian dollar weakened 0.66 cents to 96.68 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Canaccord Genuity raised the rating on IBI Group Inc to hold from sell following recent share price depreciation.
Paradigm Capital raised the target price on Trinidad Drilling Ltd to $10 from $9.50 given the company's improved cash position and ongoing multiple expansion in the Canadian energy services sector.
On the economic track, Statistics Canada reported that the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits in April was virtually unchanged at 521,600. Compared with a year earlier, the number of beneficiaries in April was down 4.7%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange lost 5.74 points to 924.25
ON WALLSTREET
Investors may be in for a Bernanke hangover Thursday.
U.S. stock futures were weaker across the board ahead of the opening bell.
Futures for the Dow Industrials toppled 88 points, or 0.6%, to 14,959. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 11.60 points, or 0.7%, to 1,612.10, and futures for the NASDAQ slid 29.75 points, or 1%, to 2,926.50
On the corporate front, drugstore chain Rite Aid swung to a profit but revenue declined in the latest quarter.
Grocery chain Kroger is also scheduled to report quarterly results before the opening bell, while tech giant Oracle is up in the afternoon.
Thursday morning, the government said the number of jobless claims rose more than expected in the latest week. Meanwhile, the National Association of Realtors will publish its monthly report on existing home sales at 10 a.m. ET. The Philadelphia Fed report is also scheduled for 10.
World stock markets were deeply in the red as investors feared the Federal Reserve might begin reducing the pace of stimulus toward the end of this year.
A weak reading on China's factories further rattled investors as it stoked concerns about slowing growth in the world's second biggest economy.
Major European markets fell by more than 2% in morning trading. Asian markets also saw hefty losses after HSBC's flash purchasing managers' index for June showed Chinese manufacturing activity at a nine-month low. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and the Shanghai Composite both shed nearly 3%.
Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 index flopped 1.7%.
Oil prices slipped $1.33 to $96.91 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices capsized $67.50 to $1,306.50 U.S.
