Canadian stocks looked set to open lower on Wednesday along with commodities on investor fear of contagion from the weakest debt-ridden euro-zone economies such as Greece into bigger ones such as Italy, Spain and even France.
Canadian stocks to watch this morning include Jaguar Mining, for which China's Shandong Gold Group has reportedly made a billion-dollar offer to acquire.
Grocery giant Metro Inc. said its profit fell 8% in the fourth quarter, hurt by the costs related to closing of two facilities.
The Canadian dollar fell to 97.63 U.S. cents.
U.S. stocks also headed for a lower open Wednesday as more political developments in the euro-zone kept investors on their toes.
At 8: 30 a.m. ET, the Dow Jones industrial average futures were down 75 points, while futures on the S&P 500 tumbled 11.20 points and Nasdaq futures suffered 12 points ahead of the opening bell Wednesday morning. Stock futures indicate the possible direction of the markets when they open at 9:30 a.m. ET.
Mario Monti assumed the position of Italy's prime minister Wednesday, and he was scheduled to present his new government later in the day. In Greece, Prime Minister Lucas Papademos faced a vote of confidence for his new government.
Ahead of these developments, the same uncertainty over whether the new governments will help the euro-zone dig itself out of debt continued to hang over the market.
But economic data out of the U.S. on inflation and industrial production Wednesday may offer investors a temporary reprieve from euro-zone worries.
U.S. economic reports on tap Wednesday include new data on inflation and industrial production.
Analysts surveyed by Briefing.com expect inflation for the month of October to stay flat, after increasing by 0.3% in September. Core inflation, excluding volatile food and energy prices, is expected to have increased by 0.1% for October -- the same as the previous month.
At 5:30 a.m. ET., the Bank of England said that there will be no change in key interest rates until the third quarter of 2013, based on the assumption of no change in QE until the end of 2014.
European markets are lower in afternoon trading. Britain's FTSE 100 lost 0.8%, Germany's DAX slid 1.1% and France's CAC 40 fell 0.14% on the session.
Asian stocks ended the session lower as well. China's Shanghai fell 2.45%, Japan's Nikkei 225 lost 0.9% and Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index slid 2%.
Early Wednesday morning, the Bank of England said that there will be no change in key interest rates until the third quarter of 2013, based on the assumption of no change in QE until the end of 2014.
Oil for December delivery slipped 26 cents to $99.11 U.S. a barrel.
Gold futures for December delivery fell $8 to $1,774.20 U.S. an ounce
