The Toronto stock market appeared heading for a slightly lower open Tuesday amid falling commodity prices, including oil trading at its lowest levels since early July.
The S&P/TSX composite index grew 50.44 points to end Monday at 13,186.53
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.02 cents to 97.04 cents U.S. early Tuesday
In Canada, traders will take in earnings after the close from Canadian National Railways. Canadian Pacific Railway reports on Wednesday and both are expected to show rising revenues from greater shipments of crude oil.
Absolute Software Corp. is raising its quarterly dividend to six cents per share, a 20% increase, starting with the next payout to shareholders in November. The company provides software for tracking and managing computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada said the retail sales trade edged up 0.2% to $40.2 billion in August. Market call was for a rise of 0.3%. Higher sales at food and beverage stores were partially offset by weaker sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers and gasoline stations. Gains were reported in six of 11 subsectors, representing 56% of total retail trade.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 8.85 points to close Monday at 959.82
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were narrowly mixed Tuesday in the wake of a key jobs report for clues on the health of the U.S. economy and to gauge when the Federal Reserve may begin to scale back its massive stimulus program.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained five points to 15,327. Futures for the S&P 500 poked up 1.4 points, or 0.1%, to 1,739.60, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 5.5 points, or 0.2%, to 3,359.50.
The U.S. economy added 148,000 jobs in September, lowering the unemployment rate south of the border to 7.2%. The jobs report was released this morning, delayed for several weeks by the U.S. government shutdown.
Because this report came ahead of the shutdown, it may not have the same impact as October's report. A consensus of economist opinions compiled by Briefing.com forecast a gain of 183,000 jobs for September.
However, the data may shed more light on when the Federal Reserve is likely to start to wind back its $85-billion U.S. monthly bond buying program.
Netflix shares surged after the company reported strong quarterly earnings and issued a rosy outlook.
DuPont reported slightly better quarterly earnings, boosted by a lower tax rate and growth in certain areas of business including electronics and communications.
Coach posted earnings and sales that missed forecasts, led by a drop in domestic sales. The one bright spot was China, where sales jumped 35%.
Delta Air Lines and Lockheed Martin are also scheduled to report quarterly results before the opening bell.
Apple will be in the spotlight in the afternoon, when it hosts an event at which it is expected to unveil a new version of the iPad.
Nokia, which is being bought by Microsoft, earlier Tuesday unveiled its first full-size tablet and a pair of big-screen colourful Lumia smartphones.
Global markets were relatively subdued Tuesday. European markets diverged, with U.K. stocks edging up, while indexes in France and Germany slipped.
Asian markets were also mixed, with stocks in Hong Kong falling after a weak earnings report from heavyweight China Mobile, while Japan inched higher.
Oil prices fell 48 cents to $98.74 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slid $3.90 to $1,311.90 U.S. an ounce.
