Canada's main stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday despite robust Chinese economic data that boosted global markets.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 56.59 points to end Wednesday at 12,412.73. Futures lagged 0.1% Thursday.
The Canadian dollar hiked 0.12 cents, to 96.06 cents U.S. early Thursday
BCE Inc reported a 22% fall in profit but a marginal increase in revenue, with strong growth in wireless.
Quebecor Inc reported a 15% rise in quarterly profit, mainly due to growth at its telecommunications business, but total revenue rose less than 1%.
Tim Hortons Inc. reported a 14% rise in second-quarter profit, and said it would increase its share buyback by $900 million.
Agrium Inc reported a fall in quarterly profit due to an unusually cold spring in North America, but said it expected strong demand for crop inputs for the rest of the year.
Manulife Financial Corp reported a second-quarter profit, just missing analysts' estimates, as it absorbed a smaller loss from financial market movements.
Surprisingly firm rebounds in China's exports and imports in July offered some hope that the world's second-largest economy might be stabilizing after more than two years of slowing growth, although an imminent rebound still looks unlikely.
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that new housing prices rose 0.2% in June, following a 0.1% increase in May. This continued a series of similar gains over the past 15 months.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 5.70 points to close Wednesday at 907.13
ON WALLSTREET
After three days of declines, U.S. stocks were headed for a modest bounce Thursday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Industrials gained 38 points, or 0.3%, to 15,480. Futures for the S&P 500 picked up 6.5 points, or 0.4%, to 1,694.70, and futures for the NASDAQ prospered 13.50 points, or 0.4%, at 3,129.50
T-Mobile topped revenue forecasts and said it had a net addition of 1.1 million customers during the quarter. Apollo Global Management swung to a quarterly profit and Priceline.com is up after the close.
Tesla shares surged 18% after the electric-car maker reported a surprise quarterly profit. Tesla Model S also got the top crash test rating from the government.
Solar City, which is chaired by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, reported a wider loss than analysts had expected.
Groupon surged 23% after the daily deals site posted strong sales and announced a $300-million U.S. share-buyback program.
Green Mountain Coffee Roasters shares fell following quarterly sales figures that missed expectations.
On the international stage, European markets rose, led by Germany's DAX.
A day earlier, a report on Germany's industrial strength signaled that Europe's economic stagnation could come to an end.
In Asia, Japanese stocks continued to push lower and the Nikkei lost 1.6% as the yen strengthened throughout the day.
The Shanghai Composite index edged up by 0.1% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was off by 0.3% as China reported stronger-than-expected July trade figures for imports and exports
Oil prices slipped 14 cents to $104.23 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices picked up $4.40 to $1,289.70 U.S. an ounce.
