The Toronto stock market headed for a lower open Tuesday as further weak inflation data from the euro-zone raised expectations that the European Central Bank will take action to support a fragile recovery.
The S&P/TSX composite index improved 76.60 points to end Monday at 14,680.76.
The Canadian dollar slid 0.12 cents at 91.63 U.S. early Tuesday.
Traders also took in a strong earnings report from retailer Hudson's Bay Company
HBC posted first-quarter net earnings from continuing operations of $176 million or 97 cents a share, compared with a loss of $22 million or 19 cents a share in the same quarter of 2013. Retail sales jumped to $1.85 billion, up from $884 million in the same quarter last year. Same stores sales, which are stores that have been open for at least a year, were up 2.8% year-over-year.
In other corporate developments, Element Financial Corp. will pay $1.4 billion U.S. cash to buy PHH Corp.’s North American fleet management services business. PHH Arval had about $4.6 billion U.S. of assets as of March 31, including $4 billion U.S. invested in fleet leases.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dipped 5.60 points Monday to 978.39.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were mixed ahead of the opening bell.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials poked ahead 15 points, or 0.1%, to 16,719. Futures for the S&P 500 inched up 0.2 points at 1,921.70, and futures for the NASDAQ faded 10.50 points, or 0.3%, to 3,725.
Shares surged before the bell for Hillshire Brands after the food company's board of directors authorized takeover discussions with Pilgrim's Pride and Tyson Foods, which are in a bidding war to buy Hillshire.
Shares in Google were weak ahead of the open after the Wall Street Journal reported that the tech giant plans to spend over $1 billion U.S. on a "fleet of satellites" designed to improve internet access in remote areas.
Apple slipped in pre-market trading amid a lukewarm reception for its iOS 8 operating system.
Dollar General shares dropped after the retailer reported a modest quarterly gain in sales and profit that failed to meet expectations.
At 10 a.m. ET, the U.S. Census Bureau will release its latest data on monthly factory orders. Later in the day, investors will get a sense of how the auto sector is performing as data on vehicle sales is released for May.
European markets declined in midday trading following reports of a lower-than-expected euro-zone Consumer Price Index for May ahead of Thursday's meeting of the European Central Bank.
Asian markets were mixed.
Oil prices dipped six cents to $102.41 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices added three dollars to $1,247 U.S. an ounce.
