May 15 (Reuters) - Canadian stocks looked set to open flat to slightly lower on Thursday with June futures on the S&P TSX index <0#SXF:> down 0.07 percent at 0715 ET.
Manufacturing sales data is due at 0830 ET.
The index was little changed on Wednesday as a gain for gold miners on higher bullion prices was offset by weakness in the energy sector, while healthcare shares fell with Valeant Pharmaceuticals after it said it would sweeten its takeover offer for Allergan Inc.
Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.06 percent at 0715 ET while S&P 500 futures were down 0.10 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.08 percent. (Morning News Call newsletter link.reuters.com/nex49s; The Day Ahead newsletter link.reuters.com/mex49s)
TOP STORIES
Air Canada reported a bigger first-quarter loss, mainly due to foreign exchange losses of $161 million and harsh winter weather.
Canada’s Conservative government will consider allocating some of its projected budget surplus to paying down debt, Finance Minister Joe Oliver said on Wednesday.
Bank of Nova Scotia said on Wednesday it will explore options to divest itself of some or all of its 37 percent stake in asset manager CI Financial and redeploy the capital elsewhere.
COMMODITIES AT 0715 ET
Gold futures : $1,302.5; -0.25 pct
US crude : $102.05; -0.31 pct
Brent crude : $110.41; +0.20 pct
LME 3-month copper : $6,910.00; -0.14 pct
ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Bear Creek Mining : BMO raises to outperform from market perform
CAP REIT : CIBC raises to sector outperformer from sector performer
CI Financial Corp : Canaccord Genuity cuts to hold from buy
U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON THURSDAY
0830 CPI mm, sa for April: Expected +0.3 pct prior +0.2 pct
0830 CPI yy, nsa for April: Expected +2.0 pct prior +1.5 pct
0830 Core CPI mm. sa for April: Expected +0.1 pct prior +0.2 pct
0830 Core CPI yy, nsa for April: Expected +1.7 pct prior +1.7 pct
0830 CPI Index, nsa for April: Expected +237.10 prior +236.29
0830 Core CPI Index, sa for April: Prior +236.60
0830 Real weekly earnings mm for April: Prior +0.3 pct
0830 NY Fed manufacturing for May: Expected +5.00 prior +1.29
0830 Initial jobless claims: Expected +320,000 prior +319,000
0830 Jobless claims 4-Wk average: Prior +324,750
0830 Continued jobless claims: Expected +2.693 mln prior +2.685 mln
0900 Net L-T flows, exswaps for March: Prior +85.7 bln
0900 Foreign buying, T-Bonds for March: Prior +92.4 bln
0900 Overall net capital flow for March: Prior +167.7 bln
0900 US Net L-T Flows,Incl.Swaps for Mar: prior 76.5 bln
0915 Industrial output mm for April: Expected +0.0 pct prior +0.7 pct
0915 Capacity utilization mm for April: Expected +79.2 pct prior +79.2 pct
0915 Manufacturing output mm for April: Expected +0.3 pct prior +0.5 pct
1000 NAHB housing market index for May: Expected +49 prior +47
1000 Philly Fed business index for May: Expected +14.0 prior +16.6
1000 Philly Fed 6M index for May: Prior +26.60
1000 Philly Fed capex index for May: Prior +26.00
1000 Philly Fed employment for May: Prior +6.90
1000 Philly Fed prices paid for May: Prior +11.30
1000 Philly Fed new orders for May: Prior +14.80
1130 Cleveland Fed CPI for April: Prior +0.2 pct
FOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES:
TSX market report
Canadian dollar and bonds report
Reuters global stocks poll for Canada
Canadian markets directory
$1= $1.09 Canadian Reporting by Mononshila Deka in Bangalore; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty
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