The Toronto stock market appeared heading for gains at Friday’s open Friday after most members of the European Union signed on to a deal to tie their economies closer together in order to ensure the European debt crisis doesn’t happen again.
Also supporting sentiment was a report that China is launching a new $300-billion fund that will invest partially in Europe.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.08 of a cent to 97.87 cents U.S.
On the corporate level, the TSX focuses on telecommunications giants Rogers Communications Inc. and BCE Inc. The two companies are reportedly on the verge a deal to purchase a majority stake in Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment for more than $1.3 billion.
Reports say the companies have reportedly reached a draft agreement with the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan to acquire about 80% of MLSE, which owns the NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs, the NBA’s Toronto Raptors, Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, the Air Canada Centre and other assets.
A formal announcement was scheduled for later in the morning.
Stateside, stocks looked set to rise on Friday morning after European leaders wrapped up their first day of a two-day summit to discuss the need for a tighter fiscal union.
Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were up 106 points or 0.9%, with about 40 minutes before markets open, suggesting that stocks will rise at the start of trading. Futures for the broader S&P 500 were up 6.6 points or 0.5%.
The gains follow upward moves in Europe, where Germany's DAX index was up 2% and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was up 0.8%.
Of course, investors are focused on Europe, where leaders are in the midst of a two-day summit to hammer out an agreement on how to proceed with a new fiscal union among member states, which would include strong budget deficit regulations.
There aren't many details on what has been accomplished so far: Reports suggest that an agreement among all 27 European Union members isn't coming together, but all 17 euro-zone countries have agreed to the idea that autonomy over budget deficits should be governed by an outside body.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 fell 1.5% in overnight trading.
Oil prices hiked 16 cents to $98.50 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices leaped $7.70 to $1,721.10 U.S. an ounce
