Futures for Canada's main stock index were higher on Wednesday as energy shares gained on the back of rising oil prices.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index spiked 172.75 points, or 1.2%, after several days of heavy losses, to conclude the session Tuesday at 14,765.71.
The Canadian dollar deducted 0.07 cents to 76.18 U.S. early Wednesday
December futures strengthened 0.7% Wednesday
Air Canada reported a lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, hurt by higher fuel costs.
Cenovus Energy reported a loss for the third quarter, hurt by a fall in Canadian crude prices amid rising oil supplies.
Spruce Point Capital Management, which focuses on in-depth research on vulnerabilities of companies, sees room for Dollarama’s stock price to tumble roughly 40% after the Canadian retailer raised prices and fewer customers are shopping at its stores.
Desjardins raised the rating on Altagas to buy from hold
Desjardins raised the rating on CGI to buy from hold
National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Marathon Gold to $2.00 from $1.60
On the economic beat, Statistics Canada reported that the economy rose for the seventh straight month, with gross domestic product up 0.1% in August.
Growth was concentrated in oil and gas extraction and finance and insurance, which more than offset declines in 12 of 20 industrial sectors.
The agency’s industrial product price index edged up 0.1% in September. Higher prices for chemicals and chemical products and energy and petroleum products were largely offset by lower prices for primary non-ferrous metal products.
StatsCan’s raw materials price index decreased 0.9% in the same month, mainly due to lower prices for crude energy products.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange dropped 2.72 points Tuesday to 627.46
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wednesday as solid quarterly results from General Motors and Facebook lifted sentiment, but the major indexes were still on track to post sharp losses for the month.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials spiked 214 points, or 0.9%, to 25,073
S&P 500 futures tacked on 25.5 points, or 1%, to 2,710.75, while futures for the NASDAQ composite jumped 101.5 points, or 1.5%, to 6,916.75.
Still, the major averages are down sharply for the month, through Tuesday's close. The S&P 500 is down 7.9%, on pace for its biggest one-month loss since May 2010, when it fell 8.2%.
The Dow has lost 6% in October and is on track to post its largest monthly decline since August 2015, when it dropped 6.6%.
The NASDAQ has plunged 11% this month, and is tracking for its worst month since October 2007, when it plunged 17.7%.
General Motors shares spiked 6% in the pre-market after the company reported quarterly results that easily topped expectations.
On the data front, private payrolls rose by 227,000 in October, according to a report from ADP and Moody's Analytics. The gain is more than economists expected.
This report comes ahead of Friday's non-farm payrolls report, which is scheduled for release Friday morning.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 2.2% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index hiked 1.6%.
Oil prices took on 25 cents to $66.43 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $7.10 to $1,218.20 U.S. an ounce.
