Futures for stocks on Canada’s biggest exchange fell on Wednesday, dragged by weaker oil prices, while investors awaited inflation data due later in the day for clues on the health of the domestic economy.
The TSX ended Tuesday 0.81 points south of breakeven to 16,273.26.
The Canadian dollar were unchanged early Wednesday at 76.2 cents U.S.
December futures dropped 0.3% Wednesday.
RBC raised the target price on Boyd Group Services to $222.00 from $218.00.
JP Morgan raises target price on Canadian Pacific Railway to $497.00 from $483.00.
National Bank of Canada raised the price target on Intact Financial to $168.00 from $165.00
On the economic calendar, Statistics Canada reported the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rose 0.5% on a year-over-year basis in September, up from a 0.1% increase in August.
On a seasonally-adjusted monthly basis, the CPI rose 0.1% in September, matching the increase in August.
The agency also reported that retail sales rose 0.4% to $53.2 billion in August—the fourth consecutive monthly increase since the record decline in April, led by higher sales at building material and garden equipment and supplies dealers and food and beverage stores.
StatsCan also said prices of new homes surged across the nation by 1.2% in September following a 0.5% increase in August.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange plummeted 5.15 points to 711.99.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock index futures were little changed early Wednesday after White House chief of staff Mark Meadows said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin have made "good progress" on stimulus talks. He added, however, that they "still have a ways to go" before an agreement is reached.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials poked up 12 points to 28,194.
Futures for the S&P 500 gained 3.75 points, or 0.1%, at 3,436.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite inched up 0.75 points to 11,661.50.
A slew of companies reported quarterly earnings after the bell on Tuesday, most notably Netflix. Shares of the streaming giant slipped 5.7% after the company missed earnings estimates, and reported fewer-than-expected subscriber additions. On the other hand, shares of Snap jumped 24% after the company reported a surprise earnings beat.
Looking ahead to Wednesday Biogen, AutoNation, Baker Hughes and Abbott Labs are among the names set to report ahead of the opening bell. After the market closes Tesla will release its third quarter results, with CSX, Las Vegas Sands and Chipotle Mexican Grill also on deck.
Following Pelosi and Mnuchin’s meeting on Tuesday, Meadows told the media that the two will talk again on Wednesday, and that he hopes to see “some kind of agreement before the weekend.”
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.3% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index added 0.8%.
Oil prices slipped 56 cents to $41.14 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices added $9.70 to $1,925.10.
