May 29 (Reuters) - Canadian stocks looked set to open flat on Thursday ahead of the release of data on the country’s current account deficit in the first quarter.
June futures on the S&P TSX index <0#SXF:> were down 0.01 percent at 0715 ET.
Canada’s current account deficit is expected to narrow to C$13.10 billion in the first quarter from C$16.01 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013. The data is due at 0830 ET.
Canada’s main stock index dropped on Wednesday due to weakness in Valeant Pharmaceuticals after the drugmaker raised its takeover offer for Allergan Inc and also because of a slide in shares of gold miners as the bullion price fell.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.14 percent at 0715 ET, while S&P 500 futures rose 0.05 percent. Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.07 percent. (Morning News Call newsletter link.reuters.com/nex49s; The Day Ahead newsletter link.reuters.com/mex49s)
TOP STORIES
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce said its second-quarter profit fell by nearly two-thirds, hurt by C$543 million in charges related to its Caribbean banking unit.
The Bank of Nova Scotia said on Wednesday that it planned to sell the majority of its 37 percent stake in asset manager CI Financial via a secondary offering that could raise as much as C$2.62 billion.
COMMODITIES AT 0715 ET
Gold futures : $1,254.1; -0.44 pct
US crude : $102.96; +0.23 pct
Brent crude : $110.18; +0.34 pct
LME 3-month copper : $6,894.00; -0.72 pct
ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Bank of Montreal : Canaccord Genuity, CIBC, National Bank Financial raise price target
Rubicon Minerals : Canaccord Genuity starts coverage with speculative buy rating
U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON THURSDAY
0830 Corporate profits prelim for Q1: Expected +0.4 pct, prior +2.0 pct
0830 GDP preliminary for Q1: Expected -0.5 pct, prior +0.1 pct
0830 GDP sales preliminary for Q1: Expected +0.7 pct, prior +0.7 pct
0830 GDP consumer spending prelim for Q1: Prior +3.0 pct
0830 GDP deflator preliminary for Q1: Expected +1.3 pct, prior +1.3 pct
0830 Core PCE prices prelim for Q1: Expected +1.3 pct, prior +1.3 pct
0830 PCE prices preliminary for Q1: Expected +1.4 pct, prior +1.4 pct
0830 Initial jobless claims: Expected +318,000, prior +326,000
0830 Jobless claims 4-week average: Prior +322,500
0830 Continued jobless claims: Expected +2.650 mln, prior +2.653 mln
1000 Pending homes index for April: Prior +97.4
1000 Pending sales change mm for April: Expected +1.0 pct, prior +3.4 pct
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Reuters global stocks poll for Canada
Canadian markets directory ($1= $1.09 Canadian) (Reporting by Mononshila Deka in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey)
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