The Before the Bell report is constantly updated to reflect the latest news developments and market moves in the premarket. Check back later for updates.
North American stock futures are volatile this morning, with S&P 500 futures falling as much as 0.5 per cent after weaker-than-expected data on private U.S. jobs growth, but bouncing back to nearly unchanged just ahead of the opening bell. Still, traders are showing little confidence that the mild rally on Tuesday will extend into today.
Investors are in a nervous state after Monday's big selloff of more than 2 per cent in the major indexes, sparked by turmoil in emerging markets and their currency rates, as well as signs of slowing in the manufacturing sector in both China and the U.S. The consensus feeling is that the bull market remains intact, but there could still be further losses before an uptrend can continue. That's especially the case if U.S. economic figures come out on the weak side, just as the U.S. Federal Reserve scales back its quantitative easing program.
There are plenty of earnings reports today in both the U.S. and Canada, which we detail below in our Stocks to Watch section. There are also a couple of Federal Reserve officials speaking early this afternoon: Philadelphia Fed President Charles Plosser and Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart. Watch for any comments on how committed the Fed is to the tapering of its massive bond-buying program and interpretations of recent U.S. economic data - especially unexpected weakness in the manufacturing sector.
Overseas markets are relatively quiet today, as Wall Street's gains on Tuesday inspired a mini-rally in Tokyo and an upbeat Purchasing Managers' Index for the euro zone is keeping a firm tone in European indexes. The Markit euro zone composite PMI came in at 52.9 in January, the seventh consecutive month of growth and up from 52.1 in December. A number above 50 signifies expansion.
Now, here's a closer look at what's going on this morning and what's to come.
MARKETS:
Equities:
Futures: S&P 500 -0.08 per cent; Dow +0.02 per cent; Nasdaq -0.03 per cent; S&P Toronto -0.12 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.60 per cent
Shanghai composite index Closed for holiday
Japan's Nikkei +1.22 per cent
London's FTSE 100 +0.24 per cent
Germany's DAX -0.09 per cent
France's CAC 40 +0.21 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Mar) +0.68 per cent at $97.85 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Apr) +0.60 per cent at $1,258.70 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Mar) +0.38 per cent at $3.20 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 90.42 (U.S.), vs. 90.24 at Tuesday's North American close.
U.S. dollar index down 0.04 at 81.07
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.63 per cent, down 0.009
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
ADP Research Institute said private employment rose 175,000 last month, below Street expectations of 185,000 and well below December's 238,200.
Statistics Canada said building permits fell 4.1 per cent in December from November, below the 1.5 per cent rise economists expected.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Institute for Supply Management releases its service sector index for January.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Canadian National Railway said 3,000 unionized train and yard operations employees in Canada have given the company 72 hours notice that it intends to strike.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. says its passenger traffic in January was more than eight per cent higher than in the same month last year. That was almost exactly matched by increased capacity, resulting in a load factor of 80.9 per cent, unchanged from January 2012.
TMX Group reported adjusted Q4 earnings of 96 cents a share, 11 cents above the analyst consensus. Revenue slipped by less than 1 per cent to $180.7-million, about $7-million above analyst estimates.
Intact Financial reported Q4 EPS of $1.05 vs. the Street estimate of $1.26 and hiked its dividend by 9 per cent.
Advantage Oil & Gas announced the completion of its review of strategic alternatives, which did not result in any "acceptable" bids for the company. TD Securities believes the stock will fall by 5 per cent to 10 per cent when it opens this morning.
Merck & Co, reported Q4 adjusted EPS of 88 cents (U.S.), 1 cent below the Street consensus. Revenues were also just slightly below expectations.
Nasdaq OMX Group reported adjusted fourth-quarter profit of 69 cents per share, topping the consensus estimate by 2 cents, as revenue rose 23 per cent.
Time Warner Inc. reported adjusted Q4 profit of $1.17 a share on revenues of $8.56-billion. Analysts had expected EPS of $1.15 on revenue of $8.39-billion. Shares are up about 5 per cent in premarket trading.
Other earnings today include: Gildan Activewear; Brookfield Infrastructure; Canfor; Chartwell Retirement; ATS Automation Tooling Systems; Sierra Wireless; Coca-Cola Enterprises; Green Mountain Coffee Roasters; Marathon Oil; Pandora Media; Shutterfly; Walt Disney; Twitter; Yelp.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Canaccord Genuity cut its price target on Suncor Energy to $45 (Canadian) from $50 and removed the stock from its Canadian Focus List, citing 'reduced appeal.'
Canaccord Genuity cut its price target on Tim Hortons to $61 (Canadian) from $67 and affirmed a "hold" rating.
Jefferies raised its price target on BlackBerry to $9 (U.S.) from $6 and maintained a "hold" rating.
Desjardins Securities cut its price target on Atlantic Power to $4 (Canadian) from $6 and maintained a "hold" rating after the company announced a debt financing.
Desjardins Securities hiked its price target on Kirkland Lake Gold to $3.50 (Canadian) from $2.50 and maintained a "hold" rating.
Bernstein raised its price target on Google to $1,500 - believed to be the highest target on the Street - from $1,350. It maintained an "outperform" rating.
Wunderlich Securities downgraded Sirius XM Radio to "hold" from "buy" and cut its price target to $3.80 (U.S.) from $4.20.
Scotia upgraded Archer Daniels Midland to "outperform" from "sector perform" and raised its price target to $44 (U.S.) from $43.
Jefferies upgraded Steel Dynamics to "buy" from "hold" with a price target of $19 (U.S.).
Topeka Capital raised its price target on Twitter to $70 (U.S.) from $54 and maintained a "buy" rating.
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING LINKS:
Three truths about emerging market investing.
How the emerging market selloff gets much, much worse.
If car culture is really dying, it's a long, slow, complicated death.
Bond guru Bill Gross says the era of getting rick quickly is over.
Gundlach and Gross fund outflows highlight the embattled bond market.
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For instant headlines on breaking economic and corporate news in the premarket, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at @eyeonequities.