Stock futures pointed to a lower opening for Canada's main stock index as the freefall in Chinese stocks weighed on commodity prices and the Greece debt crisis dragged on.
The S&P/TSX composite index gained 30.93 points to end Tuesday at 14,624.50.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.26 cents to 78.42 cents U.S. Wednesday
Potash Corp of Saskatchewan is confident that K+S AG shareholders would accept its $8.7-billion bid, but is open to raising it if its
German rival could reveal more value not currently seen by the Canadian company, the Globe and Mail reported, citing a source close to the deal.
K+S last week rejected Potash Corp's bid, saying it was too low and that the Canadian suitor could be planning to dismantle the company, putting jobs at risk.
Tecsys Inc reports Q4 earnings today, expected to come in at six cents per share
DragonWave Inc also reports, expecting a Q1 loss of seven cents per share
CIBC cuts target price on Veresen Inc to $19.50 from $19.00 based on a six-month delay in the start-up of Jordan Cove, and 5% lower risk weight.
CIBC cuts target price on WestJet Airlines to $32.25 from $34, with an outperform rating, based on its June traffic results. The bank also provided an update on its Q2 outlook.
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported this morning that the total value of building permits fell 14.5% to $6.7 billion in May, following two months of double-digit gains. Declines were recorded in five provinces, led by Ontario, which had posted a notable increase the previous month.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange remained negative 10.5 points to close Tuesday at 652.83.
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ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are down by about 1% ahead of the open, Asian markets ended Wednesday with deep losses, but in Europe most of the major markets are edging up in early trading.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials slid 120 points, or 0.7%, to 17,560, futures for the S&P 500 docked 13.5 points, or 0.7%, to 2,060.25, and futures for the NASDAQ slid 28.5 points, or 0.6%, to 4,393.75
Premarket data shows the following companies could see their shares tumble when trading begins: Ross Stores, Freeport-McMoRan, Alcoa and Yahoo. The shares in these firms are all off by over 2% in extended trading.
On the earnings side, Alcoa is reporting earnings after the markets close.
The U.S. Federal Reserve committee that helps set monetary policy will release the talking points from its latest meeting at 2 p.m. ET. The meeting minutes are closely monitored so traders can get an indication of when the Fed will decide to raise interest rates.
European markets have taken a collective tumble over the past couple weeks as traders worry about the potential fallout if Greece has to drop out of the euro and begin printing its own currency. But right now, markets are relatively stable as they await further bailout negotiations in the coming few days.
Meantime, a crisis of confidence has wiped trillions of dollars off China’s stock markets.
The Shanghai Composite lost another 5.9% Wednesday. The smaller Shenzhen Composite lost 2.5%, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 5.8%.
Oil prices slacked six cents to $52.27 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $3.60 at $1,156.20 U.S. an ounce.
