Canada's main stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wednesday ahead of an anxiously awaited U.S. Federal Reserve policy report that might end speculation about when by the U.S. central bank will taper its monetary policy.
The S&P/TSX composite index hiked 82.09 points to close business at 12,670.11, making up about half of Monday's 149-point slide. Futures were off a slight 0.01%.
The Canadian dollar faded 0.41 cents, to 95.80 cents U.S. early Wednesday
Department store chain Sears Canada Inc posted a profit in the second quarter compared with a loss a year earlier due to lower costs and growth in its apparels and accessories business.
Tanzania-focused miner Africa Barrick Gold, a unit of Barrick Gold, pinned its turnaround hopes on a new chief executive, appointing industry veteran Bradley Gordon to replace Greg Hawkins at the helm of the struggling group.
TransCanada Corp. said on Tuesday its 700,000-barrel-per-day Gulf Coast pipeline project is now over 90% complete and the company expects the line to be in service by the end of 2013.
CIBC raised the target price on Nordion Inc. to $8.75 from $8 after the company announced that it settled a five-year-old lawsuit with Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 1.05 points Tuesday to 932.60.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were lower ahead of the opening bell Wednesday as investors wait for the release of minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Industrials dipped 25 points, or 0.2%, to 14,960. Futures for the S&P 500 faded 2.80 points, or 0.2%, to 1,647.80, and futures for the NASDAQ fell 5.75 points, or 0.2%, at 3,075.25
The minutes are slated to come out at 2 p.m. ET and investors will be looking for clues as to when the central bank might begin cutting back on its massive bond-buying program.
Lowe's stock rose in pre-market trading after the home improvement retailer announced that its quarterly sales and profit rose from a year earlier.
Target shares were also higher after the retailer announced significant year-over-year gains in sales and profit that beat expectations.
Staples dropped nearly 10% in pre-market trading after the office supply retailer reported lower quarterly sales and profit compared to the prior year. The CEO blamed the declines on weakness in retail stores and said the company was working to ramp up its online sales.
Hewlett-Packard will report after the closing bell.
Shares in Heineken were off by nearly 5% in Europe after the brewer reported earnings that were worse than expected.
European markets were lower in morning trading. London's benchmark FTSE 100 index was down by roughly 0.7%.
Asian markets ended with mixed results. Stocks in Hong Kong declined by 0.7%, while the Shanghai Composite index was flat. Japan's Nikkei 225 added 0.2%.
Oil prices slipped 70 cents to $104.41 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices shed $7.50 to $1,365.10 U.S. an ounce.
