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 pointing to a mildly higher start this morning, but the rally that emerged Monday afternoon in crude oil prices isn't sticking. West Texas Intermediate futures in New York are down more than 1 per cent to around the $68 (U.S.) per barrel level, as market players debate whether the more than one-third plunge since June will ignite significant curtailments of U.S. shale production.
Metals prices are also sliding well into the negative column this morning, with both gold and copper down more than 1 per cent, pointing to losses today in the TSX materials sector. A firmer U.S. dollar is keeping metals prices under pressure, amid signs that the decline in oil prices may benefit the U.S. economy and encourage the U.S. Federal Reserve to tighten monetary policy by the middle of next year.
Overnight, Chinese stocks took the spotlight, with the Shanghai index surging more than 3 per cent to fresh three-year highs. The rally was encouraged by a Reuters report suggesting that the People's Bank of China may unveil a cut in its reserve requirements for banks - a response to recent weak data that included official factory activity data earlier this week that fell to eight-month lows.
The Nikkei, meanwhile, also rose modestly, as traders largely downplayed Moody's downgrade of Japan's credit rating after markets closed there on Monday. They note that credit ratings agencies have been wrong in the past when in comes to their economic outlooks, and the sharp fall in energy prices may help out Japan, which is an oil importer.
In Canada today, a major focus will be on shares in Bank of Montreal, which reported quarterly earnings that modestly missed Street expectations. More on that and what else is going on this morning below.
MARKETS:
Futures:
S&P 500 +0.26 per cent; Dow +0.27 per cent; Nasdaq +0.35 per cent; S&P/TSX -0.07 per cent
Equities:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +1.23 per cent
Shanghai composite index +3.13 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +0.41 per cent
London's FTSE 100 +1.02 per cent
Germany's DAX -0.22 per cent
France's CAC 40 +0.06 per cent
Stoxx 600 +0.39 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Jan) -1.30 per cent at $68.10 (U.S.) a barrel
Natural gas (Nymex Jan) +0.05 per cent at $4.01 (U.S.)
Gold (Comex Feb) -1.83 per cent at $1,195.70 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Mar) -1.33 per cent at $2.86 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 88.03 (U.S.), down 0.0030
U.S. dollar index up 0.28 at 88.22
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.23 per cent, down 0.01
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. construction spending for October, forecast to rise 0.5 per cent from September.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Bank of Montreal reported adjusted quarterly earnings per share of $1.63 versus the Street consensus of $1.68. It also boosted its quarterly dividend by 2 cents to 80 cents per share.
DHX Media has agreed to acquire Nerd Corps Entertainment for up to $57-million.
North American automakers report November sales.
Avanir Pharmaceuticals shares were up about 12 per cent in the premarket after Otsuka Pharmaceutical agreed to buy the company for about $3.5-billion to expand its neurologic drug portfolio.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
RBC Dominion Securities downgraded Finning International to "sector perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $27 (Canadian) from $33.
Raymond James downgraded Tahoe Resources to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $17.25 (Canadian) from $21.
RBC Dominion Securities cut its price target on Pembina Pipeline to $51 (Canadian) from $61 and maintained an "outpeform" rating.
Merrill Lynch raised its target on FedEx to $209 (U.S.) from $187 and added it to its U.S. 1 List of favourite stock ideas.
Canaccord Genuity raised its price target on Apple to $135 (U.S.) from $120 and maintained a "buy" rating. Merrill Lynch also raised its target to $130 on high iPhone sales estimates.
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING READS ON THE WEB:
Tech-driven distraction is undermining sound investing.
The Chinese stock markets has quietly doubled the performance of the year-to-date gain in the S&P 500.
Emerging markets are looking cheap.
Investing strategies ex-pat Canadians should know.
Why OPEC is wrong to think it can outlast U.S. on oil prices.
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