Canadian stocks looked set to open flat on Thursday ahead of the release of data on the country's current account deficit in the first quarter.
The S&P/TSX composite index dipped 47.06 points to conclude Wednesday at 14,610.96, with futures down 0.01% on Thursday.
The Canadian dollar galloped 0.2 cents to 92.14 U.S. early Thursday.
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said its second-quarter profit fell by nearly two-thirds, hurt by $543 million in charges related to its Caribbean banking unit.
The Bank of Nova Scotia said on Wednesday that it planned to sell the majority of its 37% stake in asset manager CI Financial via a secondary offering that could raise as much as $2.62 billion.
Canaccord Genuity, CIBC, National Bank Financial all raised their price targets on Bank of Montreal
Canaccord started coverage on Rubicon Minerals with a speculative buy rating
Canada's current account deficit is expected to narrow to $13.10 billion in the first quarter from $16.01 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013. The data was due later this morning.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 2.15 points Wednesday to 983.58.
ON WALLSTREET
Wall Street is focused on Gross Domestic Product data right now. But that's not the only thing going on in the markets.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials took on 16 points, or 0.1%, to 16,644. Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 2.1 points, or 0.1%, at 1,911.20, and futures for the NASDAQ gained 2.5 points, or 0.1%, to 3,718.50.
Apple shares were modestly higher in pre-market trading after the technology giant announced that it was buying headphone-maker Beats for $3 billion U.S.
Costco has issued its latest quarterly results, showing sales increased but profit came in slightly below expectations.
Abercrombie & Fitch will also report earnings before the opening bell. Retailers Guess and Pacific Sunwear will report after the close.
The U.S. government is set to revise its first quarter GDP figures, and the numbers may show the U.S. economy contracted in the first three months of the year.
This would mark the first GDP decline since the start of 2011. But there's no need to freak out: a dip is expected and it does not necessarily signal the start of another recession. Economists are expecting a weak number because of a slump in spending, which can be blamed on cold winter weather.
The first estimate of GDP from late April showed the U.S. economy grew by 0.1% in the first quarter.
The government will also release weekly jobless claims numbers.
European markets posted small declines in morning trading, though the FTSE 100 index in London was higher.
Asian markets mostly closed in the red Thursday.
Japan's Nikkei 225 index bucked the trend and edged up by 0.1%. Japanese investors shrugged off retail sales data from April showing consumers were cutting back on their shopping after a sales tax hike.
Oil prices fell four cents to $102.68 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices dropped $7.20 to $1,252.10 U.S. an ounce.
