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. equity futures are virtually flat ahead of the open on the heels of large losses suffered Tuesday.
The steady flow of Fedspeak continued this morning, with Charles Evans delivering a speech in London. The President of the Chicago Fed indicated that he thought it would be appropriate to wait until 2016 to begin hiking rates.
The greenback continues to soften after last week's dovish commentary from the Federal Reserve.
"It's also quite interesting to see just how long the greenback can remain at bay before resuming its run," said IG market strategist Stan Shamu. "The bottom line is there is still a significant amount of divergence between the U.S. and the rest of the world and it's just a matter of time before U.S. data reignites the greenback."
A disappointing durable goods orders report further weakened the U.S. dollar.
S&P/TSX 60 futures are also flat.
Ahead of Wednesday's crude oil inventories report, West Texas Intermediate futures are moving higher. These weekly reports have been showing that crude oil in storage continues to grow, which will prolong the amount of time that the market stays in surplus and raise the odds that the price of oil stays lower for longer. Storage capacity at Cushing, a key oil hub, is close to being fully utilized; however, there are still plenty of other places, both on land and sea, in which crude can be stockpiled.
In Asia, the Shanghai Composite index snapped a ten-session winning streak while Japan's Nikkei posted modest gains.
More good news out of Europe: Germany's Ifo business climate index rose to 107.9 in March, its highest level since July 2014.
As Bloomberg economist Maxime Sbaihi noted, a trio of high-profile European surveys – the Ifo, ZEW, and Purchasing Managers' Index – are al signalling that the long-stagnant euro zone has considerable economic momentum heading into the second quarter of 2015.
Here's a look at the latest market numbers and other highlights ahead of the trading day.
Futures:
S&P 500 -0.05 per cent; Dow -0.09 per cent; Nasdaq +0.03 per cent
Equities:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +0.53 per cent
Shanghai composite index -0.83 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +0.17 per cent
London's FTSE 100 -0.13 per cent
Germany's DAX -0.60 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.76 per cent
Stoxx 600 -0.64 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex May) +0.36 per cent at $47.68 (U.S.) a barrel
Natural gas (Nymex May) -0.07 per cent at $2.81
Gold (Comex Apr) +0.2 per cent at $1,193.80 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex May) -0.8 per cent at $2.7805 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 80.01 (U.S.), down 0.0004
U.S. dollar index down -0.403 at 96.79
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 1.8558 per cent, down 0.0173
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
U.S. durable goods orders for February fell by 1.4 per cent; economists were expecting a 0.2 per cent rise.
(330 p.m. ET) Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Lane speaks in Kelowna, BC.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Dollarama Inc. posted fourth quarter adjusted earnings per share of $0.76, five cents above the consensus estimate. The retailer also raised its quarterly payout by 12.5 per cent.
AGF Management Ltd. reported first quarter earnings per share from continuing operations of $0.16, two cents higher than analysts anticipated. Revenue was in-line with consensus.
Kraft Foods Inc. is poised to merge with ketchup maker Heinz Inc. Kraft shareholders will receive a special dividend of $16.50 in cash funded by Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway and 3G Capital, a Brazilian private equity firm, upon completion of this deal, as well as shares in the combined company. Shares of Kraft are surging in the pre-market, now up 34 per cent.
Excellon Resources Inc. posted a loss of $0.05 per share in the fourth quarter, two cents worse than the Street expected.
Other earnings today include: AGF Management, Alexco Resource, Armtec, China Gold, Counsel Corp., Franco-Nevada, Legacy Oil, SilverCrest Mines, Taseko Mines, ViXS Systems, Apollo Education, Five Below Inc., Franco-Nevada Corp., H.B. Fuller Co., Lindsay Corp., Pacific Sunwear of California Inc., Paychex Inc., Progress Software Corp., Red Hat Inc., USD Partners LP, World Point Terminals LP, Worthington Industries.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Bombardier Inc. was upgraded to "outperform" from "sector perform" at RBC.
Tesla Motors Inc. was downgraded to "underperform" from "outperform" at CLSA.
Groupon Inc. was upgraded to "buy" from "hold" at Wunderlich.