Canadian stocks may struggle to sustain recent gains at open Wednesday as risk appetite waned and traders await further steps from the central banks across the globe. The recent run up in stocks, backed by hopes for further monetary stimulus measures by the ECB, pushed the resource-heavy Toronto's main index to a monthly high.
U.S. stock futures were pointing to a lower open.
On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index extended gains for a second session, jumping 200.91 points or 1.72 percent to 11,863.50.
The price of crude oil was leveling off from near its 3-month high Wednesday morning as traders await cues from the official inventories data from the Energy Information Administration, due out later today. Crude for September slipped $0.35 to $93.32 a barrel.
The price of gold was ticking lower Wednesday morning as the euro was struggling to sustain gains after weak trade data out of Germany. Gold for December eased $3.30 to $1,609.50 an ounce.
In corporate news from Canada, communications company BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) reported that its second-quarter net earnings increased to C$773 million or C$1.00 per share from C$590 million or C$0.76 per share in the same quarter last year. The company raised its fiscal 2012 adjusted net income outlook to a range of C$3.15 - C$3.20 per share from prior range of C$3.13 - C$3.18 per share.
Real estate company Brookfield Residential Properties Inc. (BRP.TO) reported that its second-quarter net income rose to $22 million or $0.22 per share from $19 million or $0.19 per share last year.
West Africa focused gold miner Avion Gold Corp. (AVR.TO) said it would be acquired by Endeavour Mining Corp. (EDV.TO) in exchange of 0.365 of an ordinary share of Endeavour for each Avion share. The deal values Avion at C$0.88 per share or C$389 million.
Gold miner Allied Nevada Gold (ANV.TO) reported a much improved second quarter net income of $6.1 million or $0.07 per share compared with $3.6 million or $0.04 per share in the second quarter of 2011
Airlines operator Air Canada (AC_A.TO, AC_B.TO) posted wider second-quarter net loss of C$96 million or C$0.35 per share versus loss of C$46 million or C$0.17 per share a year ago. Adjusted net loss per share was C$0.05, wider than C$0.01 in the same quarter last year.
In economic news from the euro zone, the Bank of England lowered growth estimate for the U.K. as fiscal consolidation and euro zone debt crisis weigh on demand. In its quarterly Inflation Report, the BoE said economic growth is likely to be around 2 percent in two years, down from the 2.6 percent expansion estimated in May.
Meanwhile, German trade surplus unexpectedly increased in June as imports declined at a pace double than that of exports, indicating that the sovereign debt crisis and the economic slowdown has dampened both domestic and foreign demand. Exports fell 1.5 percent month-on-month on a calendar-and-seasonally adjusted basis, the Federal Statistical Office showed Wednesday. This was faster than economists' forecast for a 1.3 percent drop.
by RTT Staff Writer
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