Canadian stocks looked set to open lower on Tuesday as investors found few reasons to keep buying given the absence of any major economic catalyst.
The S&P/TSX composite index faded 3.34 points to end Monday at 15,105.63. Futures were down 0.2% Tuesday.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.01 cents to 93.17 cents U.S. early Tuesday
Federal Finance Minister Joe Oliver warned on Monday that investors could be improperly pricing risk as they hunt for better investment returns, and said policymakers should keep the issue under close review.
U.S. officials ordered BNSF Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway to report by Friday their plans to clear a backlog of grain cars after months of service delays blamed on harsh winter weather and high freight demand.
Allergan Inc on Monday advised investors not to sell their shares to Valeant Pharmaceuticals International which launched a hostile takeover offer for the California-based Botox maker last week, saying it was "grossly inadequate."
Canaccord Genuity cut the rating on Augusta Resource to hold from speculative buy
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.39 points Monday to 1,023.98
ON WALLSTREET
Markets look set to start Tuesday where they left off the previous session -- slipping off recent record highs.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials faded 22 points, or 0.1%, to 16,818. Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 2.3 points, or 0.1% to 1,950.70, and futures for the NASDAQ moved ahead 1.5 points to 3,796.
Walgreens will post its quarterly earnings before the open. Shares in Avago Technologies were up 2.5% pre-market after the Singapore-based chipmaker announced a $309 million cash acquisition of PLX Technology.
Investors will have some economic data to digest Tuesday morning. The S&P/Case-Shiller index measuring the value of residential real estate in 20 U.S. cities comes out at 9 a.m. ET. The U.S. government will post May data on new home sales at 10 a.m. and the Conference Board will release its monthly consumer confidence index, also at 10 a.m.
Oil prices are off nine-month highs. Radical Islamic militants continue to battle Iraqi forces but their territorial gains so far are limited to the north and west of Iraq, far from the main oil fields in the south. The price reduction will ease concerns about the risk to economic growth, although costlier energy remains a worry for big manufacturing economies -- Germany's Ifo index of business sentiment fell in June.
European markets were experienced a mixed performance in midday trading. Asian markets ended generally firmer
Oil prices added 13 cents to $106.30 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained four dollars at $1,322.40 U.S. an ounce.
