Futures indicated a lower opening for Canadian stocks on Wednesday as oil prices slid on expectations of inaction on output from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index slipped 20.89 points to finish Tuesday at 14,065.78, even so, securing its fourth month of gains, the best performance since April 2014.
June futures sank 0.6% Wednesday morning.
The Canadian dollar gained 0.23 cents to 76.6 cents early Wednesday
Husky Energy, the country’s number-three integrated oil company, expects to generate free cash flow and may reinstate a cash dividend as crude oil prices have rallied in recent weeks.
Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which has come under scrutiny for its business and accounting practices, said on Tuesday it would host a conference call on June 7 to discuss first-quarter results.
Barclays raised the target price on Bank Of Nova Scotia to $55.00 from $51.00
Canaccord Genuity cut the rating on Bankers Petroleum to hold from buy.
National Bank Financial resumes coverage on Crombie REIT, with an outperform rating.
On the economic slate, RBC is due out this morning (9:30 a.m. ET) with its Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index for May.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange added 7.67 points Tuesday to 678.09.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures slipped in Wednesday pre-market action.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones Industrials eased 63 points, or 0.4%, to 17,711, while futures for the S&P 500 dipped 6.75 points, or 0.3%, to 2,088.25. NASDAQ futures fell 11.75 points, or 0.3%, to 4,512.50
Alibaba's largest shareholder -- Softbank-- said it is dumping nearly $8 billion U.S. worth of shares in the Chinese tech giant.
Softbank was an early investor but now wants to cash in some of its 32% stake to boost its own financial position.
Staples is in focus as the company announced that CEO Ron Sargent is stepping down later this month. This comes weeks after Office Depot and Staples called off plans to merge due to concerns about antitrust issues.
Shares in Under Armour are slipping pre-market after the athletics apparel company announced it would lose millions from its business relationship with bankrupt sporting goods retailer Sports Authority.
Shares in competitor Nike are also sliding pre-market.
Michael Kors, Lands' End and Cracker Barrel are the main companies reporting quarterly results ahead of the open.
On the economic side, Wall Street will get a fresh read on the state of the U.S. manufacturing industry at 10 a.m. ET. The Institute for Supply Management manufacturing index is expected to show activity slowed a bit in May and flirted with contraction.
The U.S. Census Bureau will release its construction spending report at the same time. And the latest Federal Reserve Beige Book will be released at 2 p.m., giving detailed information about the state of the U.S. economy.
European markets are mostly lower in early trading. Asian markets ended the day with mixed results.
Oil prices shed 60 cents to $48.50 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $1.78 to $1,217.10 U.S. an ounce.
