Futures for Canada's main stock index were little changed on Tuesday, even though oil prices rose to their highest level since November after the U.S. tightened sanctions on Iran.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index lost 35.53 points to close Monday at 16,577.28
The Canadian dollar backpedaled 0.16 cents to 74.77 cents U.S. early Tuesday
June futures were flat early Tuesday.
Teck Resources reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, boosted by its energy business and a slight increase in commodity prices.
CIBC raised the target price on Canadian Natural Resources to $49.00 from $45.00
CIBC raised target price on Imperial Oil to $39.00 from $35.00
RBC raised the target price on Saputo to $52.00 from $46.00
On the economic ledger, Statistics Canada reported that wholesale trade in this country increased 0.3% to $63.7 billion in February, the third consecutive monthly gain.
Higher sales were recorded in two of seven sub-sectors, led by the motor vehicle and motor vehicle parts and accessories sub-sector. Excluding this sub-sector, wholesale sales declined 1.5%.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange eked up 1.34 points to close Monday at 610.55
ON WALLSTREET
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures pointed to a higher open for the 30-stock index on Tuesday as some of the major U.S. companies reported strong quarterly results.
Futures for the 30-stock index acquired 52 points, or 0.2%, to 26,565.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained two points, or 0.1%, at 2,914.50
NASDAQ futures picked up 3.5 points, or 0.1%, to 7,738.25
Dow members Coca-Cola and United Technologies reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday. Their shares rose 3.5% and 2.8%, respectively, in the pre-market. Procter & Gamble also posted stronger-than-forecast earnings, but its stock traded down 0.1%.
Twitter shares jumped nearly 8% on its stronger-than-expected results. The social media company said its monthly active users totaled 330 million, more than experts estimate of 318 million.
Texas Instruments, eBay and Stryker are set to release their latest quarterly results after market close.
On the data front, the latest Philadelphia Fed non-manufacturing survey and FHFA Housing Price Index for February will be published during early morning deals. New home sales for March and the Richmond Fed survey for April will both be released at around 10:00 a.m. ET.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 squeezed ahead 0.2% Tuesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index was virtually unchanged.
Oil prices eked ahead 10 cents to $65.42 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices fell $3.50 to $1,274.10 U.S. an ounce.
