Canada's main stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Monday on growing expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve will scale back its monetary stimulus program as early as next month.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 32.40 points Friday to 12,736.92, with futures off about 0.1%.
The Canadian dollar took on 0.12 cents, to 96.80 cents U.S. early Monday
RBC cut the rating on Lake Shore Gold Corp. to underperform from sector perform following recent share price appreciation
CIBC cut the target price on Royal Host Inc. to $0.85 from $1 as the company was unsuccessful in seeking holder approval to amend terms of its Series D, 5.9 percent and its Series B, 6.0 percent convertible debentures due June 30, 2014 and Oct 31, 2015, respectively
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 8.13 points Friday to 940.23
ON WALLSTREET
The markets were looking calm ahead of the opening bell Monday, as investors take a breather after two weeks of losses.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Industrials faded five points, to 15,033. Futures for the S&P 500 lost 1.90 points, or 0.1%, to 1,649.20, and futures for the NASDAQ were unchanged at 3,069.75
Quarterly results are due later in the week from companies including J.C. Penney,Target and Hewlett-Packard.
U.S. stocks finished slightly lower Friday.
The markets took a large drop Thursday, leaving the Dow Jones industrial average and S&P 500 with losses in excess of 2% for the week. It was the second consecutive week of losses.
However, it's worth noting that the major indexes are still up by 15% to 20% for the year.
European markets were mixed in midday trading.
Asian markets ended mixed results. Both the Shanghai Composite index and Japan's Nikkei 225 bumped up by 0.8%. Stocks in Hong Kong declined by 0.3%
Oil prices fell 31 cents to $107.15 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices advanced $2.10 to $1,373.10 U.S. an ounce.
