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The Before the Bell report is constantly updated to reflect the latest news developments and market moves in the premarket. Check back later for updates.

North American stock futures are suggesting a lower start for equity markets this morning, as comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve Wednesday have kept alive concerns that its first interest rate hike may not be all that far away.

Futures for the S&P 500 are down nearly 0.3 per cent, though that is off lows from earlier this morning. The resource-heavy TSX will face another headwind: major commodities including gold, copper and crude oil are all posting losses of 1 per cent or greater this morning, due to a continuing rally in the U.S. dollar, which makes them more expensive in global currency terms.

The greenback jolted higher on Wednesday and bond yields rose as the Fed confirmed it is concluding its asset-buying program, but sounded relatively hawkish in its statement following a two-day monetary policy meeting. While the Fed said that interest rates would remain near zero for "a considerable time," it upgraded its outlook for the labour market and suggested future interest rate action would be dependent on economic data. The Fed comments have some reconsidering thoughts that the first rate hike won't come until the fall of 2015 or later, with June now not being ruled out.

U.S. economic data this morning added to feelings a rate hike may not be that far off. A first reading on U.S. gross domestic product for the third quarter came in 3.5 per cent on an annualized basis, ahead of forecasts for growth of 3.0 per cent. Weekly jobless claims data suggested the recovery in the labour market remains on track.

But today's main focus, especially in Canada, will be on third-quarter earnings - and there are a lot of them on both sides of the border. We have key highlights, and much more on what's going on this morning, below.

MARKETS:

Futures:

S&P 500 -0.27 per cent; Dow -0.29 per cent; Nasdaq -0.40 per cent; S&P/TSX -0.17 per cent

Equities:

Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.49 per cent

Shanghai composite index +0.76 per cent

Japan's Nikkei +0.67 per cent

London's FTSE 100 -0.91 per cent

Germany's DAX -1.58 per cent

France's CAC 40 -1.11 per cent

Stoxx 600 -0.85 per cent

Commodities:

WTI crude oil (Nymex Dec) -1.01 per cent at $81.37 (U.S.) a barrel

Natural gas (Nymex Jan) +0.57 per cent at $3.89 (U.S.)

Gold (Comex Dec) -1.62 per cent at $1,205.00 (U.S.) an ounce

Copper (Comex Dec) -1.26 per cent at $3.07 (U.S.) a pound

Currencies:

Canadian dollar at 89.35 (U.S.), down 0.0007

U.S. dollar index up 0.25 at 86.20

Bonds:

U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.31 per cent, down 0.005

ECONOMIC INDICATORS:

U.S. initial jobless claims for last week were 287,000, rising from 283,000 the previous week, and very close to Street forecasts.

U.S. third-quarter GDP, according to a first reading, rose 3.5 per cent from the previous quarter, surpassing the average prediction by economists of 3.0 per cent. It marked a decline from second-quarter growth of 4.6 per cent.

STOCKS TO WATCH:

Bombardier reported Q3 adjusted profit of 12 cents, beating the Street view of 10 cents.

Barrick Gold reported adjusted EPS of 19 cents vs. expectations of 17 cents. Revenues of $2.56-billion beat views of $2.50-billion. But shares are down 0.6 per cent in the U.S. premarket.

Agnico-Eagle reported quarterly adjusted profit of 2 cents vs. Street expectations of 14 cents. Revenues also missed Street views. But the company raised its full-year gold production outlook.

Goldcorp said it sees its annual production at the low end of its forecasts. It reported Q3 adjusted EPS of 9 cents vs. the estimated 18 cents.

Thomson Reuters reported Q3 EPS of 45 cents (U.S.), matching Street views.

Maple Leaf Foods reported adjusted earnings of 13 cents, down from 19 cents a year ago, but missed analyst expectations.

Suncor Energy reported Q3 adjusted operating earnings of 89 cents per share, beating the Street view of 77 cents.

Baytex Energy reported Q3 EPS of 86 cents vs. the Street consensus of 75 cents.

Yamana Gold announced a cut in its dividend as it announced a net loss of $1.17 a share.

AltaGas reported Q3 EPS of 13 cents vs. the Street view of 18 cents.

Kellogg reported Q3 EPS of 62 cents (U.S.) vs. the Street expected 92 cents.

ConocoPhillips reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.29 (U.S.) vs. expectations for $1.21.

Marathon Petroleum reported Q3 EPS of $2.36 (U.S.) vs. expectations for $2.29.

CME Group reported adjusted Q3 of 84 cents (U.S.) vs expectations of 82 cents.

Mosiac reported Q3 EPS of 54 cents (U.S.) vs. expectations for 58 cents.

Mastercard reported Q3 EPS of 87 cents (U.S.) versus the expected 78 cents.

Time Warner Cable reported Q3 adjusted EPS of $1.86 (U.S.) vs. expectations for $1.90.

New York Times reported adjusted earnings from continuing operations of 3 cents a share, better than the breakeven results analysts expected.

Other earnings today include: Canadian Oil Sands; Canfor; Canfor Pulp Products; Constellation Software; Eldorado Gold; Fairfax Financial; First Quantum; Imperial Oil; Labrador Iron Ore Royalty; Lightstream Resources; MacDonald Dettwiler; Nevsun Resources; New Gold; Pengrowth; Progressive Waste; Resolute Forest Products; SiriusXM Canada; Superior Plus; TransAlta; TransForce; Western Energy; Bayer; Constellation Software; Expedia; Fluor; GoPro; Groupon; LinkedIn; Marathon Petroleum; MGM Resorts International; National Oilwell Varco; Newmont Mining; Oil States International; Pitney Bowes; Resolute Forest Products Inc; Royal Dutch Shell PLC; Samsung Electronics; Starbucks; TransForce; Vale SA; Volkswagen.

ANALYST ACTIONS:

Raymond James downgraded Canam Group to "outperform" from "strong buy" and cut its price target to $15 (Canadian) from $17.

Raymond James downgraded Horizon North Logistics to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $3.75 (Canadian) from $6.50.

Raymond James downgraded Taseko Mines to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $2.30 (Canadian) from $2.75.

Industrial Alliance upgraded Aimia to "strong buy" from "buy" and maintained a $20 (Canadian) price target.

RBC Dominion Securities downgraded Atco to "underperform" from "sector perform" with a price target of $49 (Canadian).

THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING READS ON THE WEB:

What's an investor to do about bonds?

Does stock picking still work in emerging markets?

How magazine covers give off investment signals - and whether the Economist cover suggests Europe is a buy.

Contrarian investing will require that you be "alone" almost all the time - but the rewards can be great.

The market's 'best six months' commence with November.

Precious metals equities may be a pocket of cheapness in a fairly valued market.

Apple is in talks with distributors to sell the iPhone in Iran.

Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I'm proud to be gay'

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Have feedback on our daily Before the Bell report and suggestions on how to make it more useful in your investing day? Please contact Inside the Market Editor Darcy Keith at dakeith@globeandmail.com.

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