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 in the red ahead of the open in response to the U.S. jobs report published on Friday.
The United States' non-farm payrolls report for March was underwhelming, as jobs growth of 126,000 and downward revisions to the previous two months overshadowed a larger-than-expected jump in average hourly earnings.
Though stock markets were closed on Friday, U.S. equity futures hit the skids in the wake of that disappointing print. Futures have pared some of their losses this morning, but remain well below where they were sitting when regular trading hours ended on Thursday.
March's jobs report is consistent with the string of soft data from south of the border in the first three months of 2015, and suggests that liftoff from the Federal Reserve may be tilted towards the latter part of the year, if at all.
First-quarter earnings season unofficially kicks off Wednesday when Alcoa Inc. releases its results. Profit growth is expected to be hard to come by in 2015, primarily attributable to the anticipated collapse in profits in the energy sector.
S&P/TSX 60 futures are softer despite a surge in the price of oil and other commodities, with West Texas Intermediate futures above $50 per barrel (U.S.). Saudi Arabian Oil Co. hiked its official selling prices to Asian customers amid an improvement in the crack spread and comments from the nation's finance minister that demand for oil was picking up globally.
Gold is also catching a bid after the U.S. dollar and Treasury yields retreated on Friday.
The Bank of Canada's quarterly business outlook survey will be closely watched for insight into executives' outlooks for sales growth and capital spending.
Meanwhile, in Europe, Greece has reassured the International Monetary Fund that its repayment of €450-million will be made on April 9, as scheduled. Athens and European powers remain in the process of ironing out a set of reform proposals that will enable Greece to secure additional funds.
Most European and Asian markets were closed on Monday, though Japan's Nikkei posted a small loss.
Here's a look at the latest market numbers and other highlights ahead of the trading day.
Futures:
S&P 500 -0.74 per cent; Dow -0.72 per cent; Nasdaq -0.77 per cent
Equities:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed
Shanghai composite index closed
Japan's Nikkei -0.19 per cent
London's FTSE 100 closed
Germany's DAX closed
France's CAC 40 closed
Stoxx 600 closed
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex May) +2.83 per cent at $50.53 (U.S.) a barrel
Natural gas (Nymex May) -1.95 per cent at $2.66
Gold (Comex Apr) +1.54 per cent at $1,219.40(U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex May) +1.98 per cent at $2.788 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 80.14 (U.S.), up 0.0005
U.S. dollar index up 0.137 at 96.682
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 1.8363 per cent, down 0.0026
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
(10 a.m. ET) Canada Ivey Purchasing Managers' Index for March
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Federal Reserve labor market conditions index for March
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. non-manufacturing ISM for March. Consensus is 56.8, a rise of 0.1 from February
STOCKS TO WATCH:
CNBC reports that federal law enforcement agencies have contacted several executives at Herbalife Inc., the nutritional company that has been target of a large short by Pershing Square's Bill Ackman, to ask for details on its business practices.
First Majestic Silver Corp. said it has acquired 14.5-million shares of First Mining Finance Corp., or roughly 20 per cent of its shares outstanding.
Goldcorp Inc. has reached a preliminary agreement to sell its 40 per cent stake in the South Arturo gold mine to Premier Gold Mines Ltd.
Barrick Gold Corp. Chairman John Thornton told the Financial Times that the company was open to engaging in more joint ventures and selling assets to pay down debt.
Ventas Inc. plans to spin off its skilled nursing facility portfolio into a publicly traded real estate investment trust.
A proxy-advisory firm told shareholders of Wynn Resorts Ltd. not to support the firm's nominees for its board of directors or dissident nominee Elaine Wynn, its third-largest shareholder, in light of corporate governance issues.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Qualcomm Inc. was downgraded to "market perform" from "outperform" at FBR.
Lumber Liquidators Holdings Inc. was upgraded to "outperform" from "market perform" at Raymond James.
VMWare Inc. was raised to "buy" from "neutral" at Nomura.