Standard & Poors created a flutter in global stock markets by threatening to downgrade Europe's most creditworthy countries, which raised questions about who remained to bail out its least credit-worthy nations.
Meantime, stocks in Canada are seen to be at the very least holding their own, amid earnings news and the latest from the Bank of Canada.
The central bank kept its overnight interest rate at 1% on Tuesday, predicting that Europe's recession would be "more pronounced" than previously thought but giving no suggestion of an impending rate cut.
Canadian companies to watch this morning include Bank of Montreal, which said its fourth-quarter profit rose 21%, powered by loan growth and the acquisition of Wisconsin-based Marshall & Ilsley.
Oil and gas driller Precision Drilling raised its capital budget for 2012 by 54% to $1.14 billion.
U.S. stock futures appeared a titch stronger. S&P 500 futures rose 1.2 points, or 0.1%. Dow futures bobbed in and out of the red, trading up 52 points, or 0.4%, at 12,118 within a half hour of the New York Stock Exchange opening.
Britain's FTSE 100 edged 0.2% higher, France's CAC 40 inched 0.2% lower, and Germany's DAX lost 0.6%.
S&P warned it may downgrade 15 of the 17 euro-zone countries, including top-rated Germany and France, if EU leaders fail to agree on a plan to solve the debt crisis at a summit on Friday. The ratings agency left out only Cyprus, whose bonds have near-junk status, and Greece, whose low ratings already suggest it is likely to default soon.
The inclusion on the list of Germany and France means they could lose their coveted AAA ratings and might not be able to raise enough money to bail out their weaker neighbours.
Chancellor Angela Merkel played down the ratings news, saying the region is on the path out of its financial crisis and that the process would be long but fruitful.
Japan's Nikkei fell 1.4% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng dipped 1.2%.
Gold fell $11.80 to $1,722 U.S. an ounce.
Crude oil inched 0.2% higher to $101.15 U.S. a barrel.
