Signs indicated a lower open on Thursday for markets in Toronto following the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision to continue scaling back bond purchases despite emerging market turmoil.
The S&P/TSX composite index remained negative 44.56 points, to close Wednesday at 13,643.10. Futures pointed to a drop of 0.03%.
The Canadian dollar fell 0.12 cents to 89.40 cents U.S. early Thursday
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan reported a sharply lower quarterly profit and produced 2014 forecasts that were below Wall Street expectations.
Enbridge Income Fund Holdings, the fund controlled by Enbridge Inc., said on Wednesday it will build a $25-million crude oil pipeline connection to the Cromer, Manitoba, rail terminal owned by Tundra Energy Marketing Ltd.
Osisko Mining said on Wednesday it has sued Goldcorp Inc in an attempt to foil the gold miner's $2.6-billion hostile bid, alleging that its suitor misused confidential information.
Sears Canada Inc. said it would cut 624 jobs as it reorganizes its business.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange peeked up 0.13 points close Wednesday at 958.76
ON WALLSTREET
Investors are hoping corporate earnings and economic data will help stocks bounce back Thursday after recent sharp losses.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 49 points, or 0.3%, to 15,747. Futures for the S&P 500 improved 6.10 points, or 0.3%, to 1,777.30, but futures for the NASDAQ gained 13.75 points, or 0.4% to 3,486.75.
The Dow has fallen on six out of the last seven trading days and is down 5% so far this year. The S&P 500 has dropped by 4% since the start of 2014, with the bulk of the losses sustained over the past few days.
Investors are watching international developments closely, after a reduced flow of cheap money from the Federal Reserve accelerated a selloff in some emerging market currencies.
It’s a day full of corporate earnings announcements.
UPS and Exxon Mobil are on deck to report ahead of the opening bell, while. Amazon and Google are set to report in the afternoon.
There have been some bright spots. Facebook shares surged more than 13% in pre-market trading following strong quarterly sales and earnings results.
Google shares also rose after the company announced it was selling its Motorola Mobility smartphone business to China's Lenovo for $2.9 billion U.S.
Investors will get their first reading of U.S. fourth-quarter GDP from the Commerce Department Thursday. Briefing.com's consensus forecast is calling for annual growth of 3% for the broadest measure of the economy.
Also this morning, the government will release its weekly report on initial jobless claims.
European markets were in negative territory in morning trading, and Asian markets also took a knock.
Japan's Nikkei dropped 2.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 0.5% and Australia ASX All Ordinaries lost 0.8%. The Shanghai Composite, which often diverges from other Asian markets, advanced 0.6%.
The HSBC report on Chinese manufacturing showed a retraction, coming in at 49.5 for January, down slightly from the flash reading of 49.6. Any reading below 50 signals contraction.
Oil prices hiked 33 cents to $97.69 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dipped $7.40 to $1,254.80 U.S. an ounce.
