Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for equity markets in Toronto on Tuesday on hopes of monetary stimulus measures by China and on a growing sense that the East-West rift over Ukraine was unlikely to get out of hand.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed Monday down 57.21 points at 14,278.55, with June futures up 0.2% early Tuesday
The Canadian dollar eked ahead 0.05 at 89.40 cents U.S. early Tuesday
Canada's financial benchmarks have not been manipulated the way the London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor) has, and the country is tightening rules to make sure they never are, Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Tim Lane said yesterday.
Canadian National Railway Co and the Teamsters union will meet on Wednesday to make a final attempt at reaching a labor deal for some 3,000 conductors, yard workers, and traffic coordinators.
BMO raised the price target on BlackBerry to $8 from $7, maintaining a rating of market perform
Octagon Capital cut the rating on Maple Leaf Foods to hold from buy
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 15.58 points Monday to 1,019.18
ON WALLSTREET
Investors can't seem to get excited about equities this month, with each of the main U.S. indexes showing losses, despite encouraging signs at Tuesday’s open.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 22 points, or 0.1%, to 16,224. Futures for the S&P 500 took on 6.2 points, or 0.3%, to 1,855.60, and futures for the NASDAQ recovered six points, or 0.2%, at 3,617.
The tech-focused NASDAQ has fallen by nearly 2% this month, and the Dow Jones and S&P 500 are also off by 0.3% and 0.1% respectively.
In corporate news, investors will be watching Walgreens and Carnival, which will have both reported results before the opening bell.
Shares of Sonic rose after the bell after the drive-in restaurant operator reported earnings that beat Wall Street's expectations.
Housing market data will be watched for clues on the health of the economy. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index will come out this morning, with the U.S. government reporting February new home sales soon after.
Meanwhile, the Conference Board will publish its consumer confidence index later this morning.
European markets were all pushing up in morning trading. The London FTSE 100 index was leading the way with a 1.1% gain.
Asian stock markets mostly ended in the red, though the moves down were modest
Oil prices improved 54 cents to $100.14 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices were unchanged at $1,311.20 U.S. an ounce.
