Futures for stocks in Canada’s biggest market edged higher on Monday ahead of a two-day U.S. Federal Reserve meeting and as investors breathed a sigh of relief that the weekend passed with no new provocation from North Korea.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index eked up 0.31 points to close Friday at 15,172.72. The index had gained more than 1% on the week, however.
September futures eked higher 0.1% on Monday morning.
The Canadian dollar descended 0.22 cents to 82.02 cents U.S. Monday morning.
Unifor said its members at General Motors’ CAMI auto assembly plant in Ingersoll, Ontario are on a strike from late Sunday night, as it failed to reach a tentative agreement with the automaker.
RBC raised the price target on AGF Management to $8.50 from $7.00
RBC raised the price target on Great Canadian Gaming to $41.00 from $36.00
On the economic slate, Statistics Canada reported that offshore investors purchased $24 billion in Canadian securities in July, led by record acquisitions of Canadian bonds. At the same time, Canadian investors reduced their holdings of foreign securities by $1.8 billion, following strong acquisitions in June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange gained 5.08 points to 776.24 Thursday
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures are signaling a higher open on Monday as investors look ahead to the Federal Reserve's September meeting which begins on Tuesday.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials took on 56 points, or 0.3%, to 22,275. S&P 500 futures gained 4.75 points, or 0.2%, to 2,502, while futures on the NASDAQ Composite index advanced 8.25 points, or 0.1%, to 6,003.50
On the earnings front, Steelcase is expected to report before the bell.
Most market participants do not expect a rate hike to be announced at this month's meeting although the central bank is projected to announce the unwinding of its massive $4.5-trillion portfolio. Market expectations for a December Fed rate hike are now at 52.9%, however, according to the experts.
On the data front, the U.S. Department of the Treasury is due to release Treasury International Capital (TIC) data for July 2017 and the NAHB releases its September survey of confidence among American home builders.
Overseas, markets in Europe were trading up around 0.3%, approaching noon local time, while CSI 300 in Shanghai added just more 0.3%. Japanese markets were closed for a public holiday
Oil prices slipped 30 cents to $49.59 U.S. per barrel.
Gold prices dropped $9.60 at $1,315.60 U.S. an ounce.
