Equity markets in Canada looked set to open higher on Wednesday after oil prices rose even as Iran signalled a tough line to efforts led by Russia and Saudi Arabia to broker a deal to freeze production levels and ease a global glut.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index was ahead 173.74 points to close Tuesday at 12,554.98. March futures pointed up 0.8% Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.26 cents to 72.39 cents U.S. early Wednesday.
Air Canada said its costs would fall this year if the Canadian dollar remained unchanged from 2015 levels, and announced plans to buy up to 75 CS300 aircraft from Bombardier Inc as part of a plan to renew its fleet.
Meantime, Bombardier said it would reduce its workforce by about 7,000 over the next two years, while ramping up hiring to support production of its CSeries commercial jets.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals got a small shot in the arm late in 2015 when a number of big-name investors made new bets or added to their existing positions at a time when the embattled drug company's stock price was cheaper than it had been in months.
Barclays cut the target price on Bank of Montreal to $60.00 from $71.00
Moreover, Barclays cut the target price on Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce to $74.00 from $93.00
Barclays then cut the target price on Royal Bank of Canada to $58.00 from $71.00
On the economic front, Statistics Canada reported that Canadians bought $17.4 billion of foreign securities in December, a second consecutive month of strong investment abroad. On the other side, foreign investors reduced their holdings of Canadian securities by $1.4 billion, led by federal government debt securities.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange deducted 0.73 points Tuesday to 510.41
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are rising and holding onto the big gains made over the previous two trading days.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 106 points, or 0.7%, to 16,237, futures for the S&P 500 spiked 13.75 points, or 0.7%, to 1,902.50. NASDAQ futures climbed 38.75 points, or 1%, to 4,131.50.
Shares in energy infrastructure firm Kinder Morgan are surging after billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway revealed that it had bought a $395.9-million U.S. stake in the company.
Staples' stock is rising as investors bet that the company's planned merger with rival Office Depot will clear all anti-trust hurdles after Staples agreed to offload some of its business to Essendant. The Federal Trade Commission successfully blocked a merger of the two office suppliers back in 1997.
T-Mobile, Priceline, Dr Pepper Snapple and Outback Steakhouse owner Bloomin' Brands are all reporting before the opening bell.
This afternoon, companies including Marriott, Barrick Gold, and Jack In The Box will release earnings.
The federal government will post January's Producer Price Index this morning. At 9:15 a.m., the Federal Reserve will post an update on industrial production and capacity utilization in January.
And then the Fed will release the minutes from its latest policy meeting at 2 p.m. Investors will parse through these documents for any clues about the Fed's plans for rate hikes in 2016.
European markets are also getting a boost, rising by about 1%, while Asian markets ended with mixed results.
Oil prices acquired six cents to $27.50 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained six dollars to $1,215.30 U.S. an ounce.
