Stock futures pointed to a higher open for Canada's main stock index on Wednesday
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 90.47 points to close the day at 14,972.97. December futures moved up 0.3% Wednesday.
The Canadian dollar tumbled 0.43 cents to 88.09 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
A bill to force approval of the Keystone XL pipeline failed in the U.S. Senate on Tuesday, sparing President Barack Obama from an expected veto of legislation that several fellow Democrats supported.
Suncor Energy said on Tuesday that it planned to spend $7.2 billion-$7.8 billion in 2015, with more than half of those funds earmarked for growth projects.
Barrick Gold named mining industry veteran Shaun Usmar its chief financial officer designate on Tuesday, marking the latest shakeup at the world's biggest gold miner.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange progressed 6.52 points Tuesday to 784.36.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were little changed as investors looked ahead to a batch of fresh economic data and company earnings.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials dipped 17 points, or 0.1%, to 17,635. Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 2.5 points, or 0.1%, to 2,046, and futures for the NASDAQ gave up three points to 4,235.
Lowe's, Staples and Target will report quarterly earnings before the opening bell. Keurig Green Mountain and Williams-Sonoma will report after the close.
Urban Outfitters was down 4.4% pre-market after the company issued disappointed earnings earlier in the week.
Economically speaking, the Fed will publish minutes from its October meeting at 2 p.m. ET. The U.S. government will post monthly housing starts and building permits this morning.
European markets were little changed in early trading. Asian markets ended mostly lower, led by a 0.7% decline in Hong Kong.
The Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect -- which allows international investors to buy stocks in Shanghai -- continued to falter in its third day of operation. Buyers were nowhere to be found, and only slightly more than one-fifth of the daily Shanghai quota was filled.
Fresh from its shock Halloween stimulus gambit, the Bank of Japan said it will maintain current policy for now. Support for the central bank's massive stimulus plan firmed, however, as three of last month's holdouts voted with the majority.
Oil prices gained two cents to $74.63 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slipped $1.60 to $1,195.50 U.S. an ounce.
