Luke KawaThe Globe and Mail
The Before the Bell report is updated throughout the premarket to reflect the latest news developments and market moves. Check back later for updates.
U.S. and Canadian equity futures are lower this morning as indexes appear poised to give back some of Friday's gains.
The Federal Reserve's cautious outlook continues to set the tone for the markets. In the absence of high-level data, traders will be keyed in on comments from monetary policymakers to get a better sense of which way the winds are blowing inside the central bank.
This morning, St. Louis Fed President James Bullard told CNBC that the gap between the market's projected glide path higher for rates and monetary policymakers' estimates raised the possibility of another "tantrum" - like the kind seen in the summer of 2013 after Ben Bernanke warned that the central bank was thinking of dialling down its monthly bond purchases.
Fed Vice Chair Stanley Fischer and San Francisco Fed President John Williams are also slated to deliver remarks later today.
"Remember, Fischer was one of the biggest advocates of the switch to data dependence and it's clear he is exerting quite a bit of influence on the committee," said IG market strategist Stan Shamu.
European stocks have been hit hard as political tensions rise to the forefront once again.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and his German counterpart, Angela Merkel, will meet today in Berlin to discuss options and possible reforms for the highly indebted nation, which is in danger of running out of cash.
Meanwhile, in Spain, anti-austerity party Podemos came in third place in regional elections held this weekend. Podemos, which shares a stance similar to the ruling Greek Syriza party, has been polling well on the national level and threatens to spark political turmoil in the euro zone if it wins the general election this year. But as the party only managed a little over a dozen seats in Andalusia, which suffers from particularly high unemployment, that may be a sign that the chances of it forming government and destabilizing the currency union are smaller than previously thought.
Oil has continued to come under pressure, as Saudi Arabia reaffirmed that it would only reduce output if nations outside of the OPEC cartel did so as well. Meanwhile, Chinese oil giant Sinopec said it expects "the price of crude oil will fluctuate at a low level" this year.
In Asia, Japan's Nikkei set a fresh 15-year high while Chinese stocks also made sizeable gains on the heels of North American indexes' impressive performance to end last week.
Here's a look at the latest market numbers and other highlights ahead of the trading day.
Futures:
S&P 500 -0.2 per cent; Dow -0.17 per cent; Nasdaq -0.16 per cent
Equities:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.49 per cent
Shanghai composite index +1.95 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +0.99 per cent
London's FTSE 100 -0.3 per cent
Germany's DAX -1.35 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.89 per cent
Stoxx 600 -0.86 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex May) -0.77 per cent at $46.20 (U.S.) a barrel
Natural gas (Nymex Apr) -2.48 per cent at $2.717
Gold (Comex Apr) -0.32 per cent at $1,180.80 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex May) +0.49 per cent at $2.7745 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 79.59 (U.S.), down 0.0007
U.S. dollar index down -0.33 at 97.579
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 1.9129 per cent, down 0.0174
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. existing home sales. Consensus is for a 2.5 per cent rise to an annualized rate of 4.94 million.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Chinese gold and copper miner Zijin Mining Group Co. is buying a near 10 per cent stake in Canadian-listed Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. by way of a $105-million private placement. The proceeds will be used to develop copper deposits in the Democratic Republic of Congo and its platinum project in South Africa.
Maple Leaf Foods Inc. has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange to buy back up to roughly 9 per cent of its public float.
AGT Food & Ingredients Inc. posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.75 for full-year 2014, well above the consensus estimate of $1.54.
Gilead Sciences Inc. has indicated that nine patients using its treatments for Hepatitis C in conjunction with a heart treatment came down with slow heart beats, with one fatality reported.
Earnings include: BTB REIT, Flexion Therapeutics Inc.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Canadian Real Estate Investment Trust was upgraded to "outperform" from "market perform" at BMO Nesbitt Burns, with a price target of $49 (Canadian).
Canaccord Genuity downgrades AutoCanada to hold from buy, cuts target all the way to $38 Cdn from $66. AutoCanada was also lowered to "sector perform" from "outperform" at Altacorp and RBC Dominion Securities cut its price target to $50 from $64 while reiterating an "outperform" rating.
Raymond James downgrades IBI Group to market perform from outperform, target cut to $2 Cdn from $3.75.
Desjardins downgrades HNZ Group to hold from buy, with a price target of $20 Cdn.
Surge Energy Inc. was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Paradigm Capital.