Stock futures pointed to a lower start for Canada's main stock index on Wednesday as oil prices fell further after the World Bank cut its global growth forecast for 2015 and 2016.
The S&P/TSX composite index faltered 77.85 points to end Tuesday at 14,187.16, with March futures down 0.6% Wednesday.
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.10 at 83.53 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
Canada's largest oil and gas company Suncor Energy said on Tuesday it would lay off about 1,000 employees and contractors, freeze hiring and slash $1 billion in capital spending in response to falling crude oil prices.
Canadian regional cable and internet company Cogeco Cable reported a higher quarterly profit, helped by increased revenue from the American cable services business.
A Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed in northern Ontario on Tuesday, leaking propane and closing down a nearby highway, the railway said in an emailed statement.
Barclays cut the price target on Imperial Oil to $58.00 from $67.00
CIBC cut the target price on DragonWave to $2.75 from $3.00
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange descended 9.34 points Tuesday to 670.65
ON WALLSTREET
Stock markets have fallen for the last three days and the run looks set to continue Wednesday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials trailed off 133 points, or 0.8% to 17,402. Futures for the S&P 500 dipped 14.75 points, or 0.7%, to 2,001.25, and futures for the NASDAQ slipped 25.50 points, or 0.6%, to 4,133.
JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo will report quarterly earnings before the opening bell.
Burberry just provided a quarterly trading update in London, reporting sales surged in the last three months of 2014. But the company also noted that Hong Kong sales were disrupted by last year's pro-democracy protests.
On the data front, the Census Bureau will report December's retail sales number this morning.
At 2 p.m. the U.S. Federal Reserve will release its latest Beige Book
The World Bank has slashed its forecast for the global economy over the next two years, predicting growth of 3% this year and 3.3% in 2016.
In its last forecast in June, the organization had predicted global growth of 3.4% in 2015 and 3.5% in 2016.
U.S. copper futures are down 6% early Wednesday. Prices have fallen by about 15% since the start of the year
Major European markets are all declining by about 1% in early trading, with mining companies taking a major beating. Asian markets ended with losses.
Oil prices let go of 15 cents to $45.74 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices skidded 60 cents to $1,233.80 U.S. an ounce.
