Stock futures in Canada pointed to a lower open on Wednesday as markets focused on U.S. economic data that might provide hints when the U.S. Federal Reserve will start to wind down its bond-buying stimulus.
The S&P/TSX composite index dropped 99.70 points to end Tuesday at 13,319.87, with futures off 0.3% Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.18 at 93.73 cents U.S. early Wednesday
Barrick Gold Corp. will name Ned Goodman, a veteran Canadian money manager, as a director and James Gowans, a former De Beers Canada chief executive, as its new chief operating officer, Dow Jones reported, quoting a person familiar with the matter.
BlackBerry’s interim chief executive recently appointed to revamp the mobile phone maker is in it "for the long haul", the company's largest shareholder Prem Watsa told Reuters.
National Bank, Canada's sixth-largest lender, announced a two-for-one stock split and raised its dividend after reporting a 4% fall in fourth-quarter profit
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that this country’s merchandise imports declined 1.2% and exports decreased 0.3% in October. As a result, Canada's trade balance with the world went from a deficit of $303 million in September to a surplus of $75 million in October.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange sank 7.20 points Tuesday to 915.29
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were somewhat flat, an hour before Wednesday’s opening, as investors wait for a raft of data on the U.S. economy.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dropped five points to 15,883. Futures for the S&P 500 settled 3.70 points, or 0.2%, to 1,787.70, and futures for the NASDAQ dipped 5.25 points, or 0.2%, to 3,470.50
Payroll processor ADP was to release its monthly private-sector jobs report this morning. A gain of 160,000 jobs is expected for November, compared with 130,000 the prior month, according to a Briefing.com consensus.
The Census Bureau will publish data on new home sales at 10 a.m. ET. The U.S. Federal Reserve will release its Beige Book, a summary of regional economic conditions, at 2 p.m. ET.
European markets slid in morning trading, shrugging off the final purchasing managers' data for November that came in a little better than expected.
The European Union levied a record antitrust fine of €1.7 billion ($2.3 billion U.S.) on six European and U.S. banks and brokers for rigging benchmark interest rates. The largest fine, of €725 million ($986 million U.S.) went to Deutsche Bank.
Stocks in Asia were mixed at the close. The Shanghai Composite led the region with a 1.3% gain, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.8%. Japan's Nikkei 225 lost more than 2% as the yen bounced between gains and losses.
Oil prices surged 94 cents to $96.98 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices were unchanged at $1,220.80 U.S. an ounce.
