CORRECTS CANADIAN DOLLAR FIGURE
Futures for Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, as oil prices slipped on prospects of slowdown in fuel demand after China, the world's second largest oil consumer, reported a surprisingly weak trade data for December.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 35.69 points to close Friday at 14,939.18
The Canadian dollar dropped 0.03 cents at 75.34 U.S. early Monday
March futures slipped 0.3% Monday.
Lululemon Athletica on Monday raised its fourth-quarter profit and revenue forecasts, driven by strong sales during the holiday season.
Newmont Mining said it would buy smaller rival Goldcorp Inc, in a deal valued at $10 billion, creating the world's biggest gold producer by output.
Barclays raised the target price on Cogeco Communications to $73.00 from $70.00
National Bank of Canada cut the rating on Titan Mining to sector perform from outperform
CIBC cut the rating on West Fraser Timber to neutral from outperform
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange climbed 4.84 points Friday to 601.77
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures fell on Monday as investors awaited the start of the corporate earnings season. Concerns over an economic slowdown in China also dampened sentiment to start off the week.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average stumbled 186 points, or 0.8%, to 23,764
Futures for the S&P 500 lost 19.5 points, or 0.8%, to 2,575.50
NASDAQ futures eased 67 points, or 1%, to 6,545.75
Citigroup shares fell more than 1% after the bank reported weaker-than-expected revenue and a 21% drop in sales from fixed-income trading. The results dragged down J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America, which are expected to report earnings later this week.
Corporate profits grew massively in the first three quarters of last year, expanding by at least 25% in those time periods. S&P 500 earnings are expected to have grown by 12.6% in the fourth quarter.
Investors were also worries after fresh data out on Monday showed December exports and imports dropping unexpectedly in China. These figures deepened concerns of a slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.
Furthermore, the divisions between Democrats and Republicans over a border wall continue, meaning there is no end in sight for the re-opening of the U.S. government. Republican Senator Lindsey Graham urged the president on Sunday to reopen the government for a limited period to try to get talks going again.
Overseas, in Japan, markets were closed Monday for a holiday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index slipped 1.4%
Oil prices settled 62 cents to $50.97 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $6.20 to $1,295.70 U.S. an ounce.
