Canadian stocks looked set to open lower on Wednesday as investors avoided placing fresh bets in the absence of any broad market catalyst.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 33.17 points to close Tuesday at 14,904.38, with futures off 0.2% Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.12 cents at 91.84 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
The battle for Allergan Inc heated up on Tuesday as the company officially rejected a sweetened $53-billion takeover offer from Valeant Pharmaceuticals International and activist investor William Ackman.
Bombardier Inc said on Tuesday that it had resumed ground engine testing of its all-new CSeries jetliner after an engine failure last week.
Finance Minister Joe Oliver said Canada is "disappointed" that TransCanada Corp's Keystone XL pipeline to the United States has not yet received approval from the White House. Separately, TransCanada said it expected to file an application for its $12-billion Energy East pipeline with energy regulators in mid-August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange docked 1.12 points Tuesday to 986.87
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were looking soft ahead of the opening bell.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dove 70 points, or 0.4%, to 16,872. Futures for the S&P 500 fell 8.7 points, or 0.5%, to 1,941.80, and futures for the NASDAQ dipped 15.5 points, or 0.4%, to 3,785.
Target stock could be on the move as the company hosts a shareholder meeting in Dallas in the afternoon. The company has been suffering over the last few months -- it was hit by a major data breach in December, fired its CEO, and profits at the retailer have been lackluster.
Economically speaking, a report on U.S. state GDP growth will come out this morning, revealing the health of the 50 states. The Treasury Department will release its monthly budget statement at 2 p.m. ET.
Europe's airline industry is in the spotlight Wednesday, with stocks taking a nosedive on poor earnings and a big order cancellation.
Shares in Lufthansa Group were down by roughly 10% in Germany after the airline operator issued a surprise profit warning.
Airbus stock fell by about 4% in Paris after Emirates Airline canceled a multi-billion-dollar order for 70 A350 planes.
European markets were dropping in midday trading. Asian markets ended with mixed results
Oil prices inched up four cents to $104.39 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices added $3.10, to $1,263.20 U.S. an ounce.
