Canadian equities were set for a higher opening on Thursday ahead of European Central Bank's (ECB) policy meeting, where it is expected to announce a plan to buy government bonds.
The S&P/TSX composite index rocketed 251.98 points, or 1.8%, to conclude Wednesday’s session at 14,560.42. March futures gathered 0.5%.
The Canadian dollar 0.05 cents to 81.09 cents U.S. early Thursday.
Royal Bank of Canada said it would buy City National Corp, a U.S. lender serving high net worth clients, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $5.4 billion.
The Bank of Canada joined the list of "unpredictable" central banks on Wednesday with a shock quarter point rate cut as the European Central Bank prepared a 600-billion-euro ($695 billion U.S.) bond-buying program aimed at lifting Europe out of its economic doldrums.
Suncor Energy’s chief financial officer said he expects Enbridge's reversed Line 9B crude pipeline to start up towards the end of the second quarter of 2015.
National Bank raised target price on Thomson Reuters to $52.00 from $47.00
CIBC raised the target price on B2gold to $4.00 from $3.75
On the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported this morning that those of us drawing unemployment insurance benefits during November registered at 490,500, or 0.3% less than October.
The agency added that, compared with November 2013, the number of beneficiaries dropped 28,800, or 5.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 7.48 points Wednesday to 679.05.
ON WALLSTREET
The president of the European Central Bank is expected to unveil a massive bond buying program to kickstart the region's ailing economy later Thursday. Futures in North America were pointed upward at the prospect.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 85 points, or 0.5%, to 17,576. Futures for the S&P 500 hiked 10.25 points, or 0.5%, to 2,036.75, and futures for the NASDAQ picked up 15.5 points, or 0.4%, to 4,198.25.
Verizon and Southwest Airlines are due to report earnings before the opening bell and Starbucks issues its results after the close. It's a light day for economic data, just the U.S. government's weekly jobless claims due out this morning.
Back across the pond, the ECB is tipped to announce a huge stimulus program that could inject as much as one trillion euros ($1.2 trillion U.S.) into the euro-zone economy by the end of 2016.
Quantitative easing is the last big weapon left in the ECB's arsenal and most experts say its deployment is long overdue. The euro was steady early Thursday buying $1.16 U.S.
European markets were moving higher in early trading, while Asian markets ended with gains. The Shanghai Composite extended its recent strong run, closing up 0.6%.
Oil prices moved higher 87 cents to $48.65 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices slid $2.20 to $1,291.50 U.S. an ounce.
