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Colin Cieszynski

The Before the Bell report is compiled by editors of The Globe and Mail and is updated throughout the morning to reflect latest developments. Colin Cieszynski, Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Market Technician, is chief market strategist with CMC Markets.

Global markets have been trading flat to moderately lower with soft IFO survey results out of Germany‎ weighing on sentiment while traders await Friday's speech from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen.U.S. index futures are down 0.2 per cent with the FTSE down 0.3 per cent and the Dax down 1.1 per cent. Crude oil is down 0.6 per cent while gold and other major currencies trading within 0.3 per cent on either side of flat.

The focus for trading‎ Thursday is mainly on individual stocks and groups. Two more Canadian banks have reported results. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce beat the Street by a wide margin reporting EPS of $2.67, way above the street which was at $2.35. Stellar results from retail and business banking led the charge. A small 7-per-cent increase year-over-year in loan loss provisions were blamed on individual and card loans.

Toronto-Dominion Bank reported earnings of $1.27, above the Street's $1.21 forecast. Growth was driven by gains in U.S. retail banking, TD Ameritrade and wholesale banking while Canadian retail was flat, reminiscent of the Bank of Montreal's report From Tuesday. Overall, Canadian banks have been reporting strong results with U.S. operations and capital markets outperforming a steady Canada banking environment.

In the U.K. Thursday, Entertainment One, the producer of Peppa Pig could come under ‎pressure after ITV dropped it's 1-billion-pound hostile takeover bid.

U.S. markets could be active around Thursday's durable goods orders report. While U.S. consumer spending has been really strong in recent months, traders may look to these numbers for signs of whether consumer momentum is carrying over into industry or not. Because of this, the capital goods non-air non-defense measure may attract particular attention this time around.

Now, here is a closer look at what's going on this morning and what is still to come.

MARKET DATA:

Futures (as of about 7:30 a.m. ET)

Dow -0.22 per cent; S&P 500 -0.23 per cent; Nasdaq: -0.22 per cent; TSX 60 -0.25 per cent

Equities
Japan's Nikkei -0.25 per cent
Shanghai composite index -0.57 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.03 per cent 
Germany's DAX -1.05 per cent
London's FTSE -0.27 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.93 per cent

Commodities
WTI crude oil (Nymex Oct.) -0.66 per cent at $46.46 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Dec.) -0.18 per cent at $1,327.30 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Dec.) +0.29 per cent at $2.09 (U.S.) a pound

Currencies
Canadian dollar +0.01 at 77.33 cents (U.S.)
U.S. dollar index -0.10 at 94.68

Bonds
Canada 10-year bond yield -0.5293at 1.3 per cent

KEY ECONOMIC RELEASES

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada releases its June survey of employment, payrolls, and hours

(8:30 a.m. ET) The U.S. reports initial jobless claims for the week of Aug. 20. Estimates are for an increase of 3,000 from last week to 265,000.

(8:30 a.m. ET) The U.S. reports July durable goods order. Estimates are for a 3.1 per cent increase.

(9:45 a.m. ET) The U.S. releases the Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index.

(9:45 a.m. ET) The U.S. releases the Markit Services/Composite PMI for August.

(11 a.m. ET) The U.S. releases the Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Activity for August.

KEY STOCKS TO WATCH

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canada's second-biggest lender, reported third-quarter earnings that were ahead of market expectations on Thursday, helped by growth in its U.S. retail and wholesale banking business.

The bank said its earnings, excluding one-off items, rose to $1.27 per share in the third quarter which ended on July 31 from $1.20 a year earlier. Analysts on average had expected earnings of $1.21, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

***

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Canada's fifth-biggest lender, reported a 47 per cent rise in third-quarter profit, helped by growth in its retail and business banking as well as capital markets units.

The bank's total net income rose to $1.44-billion, or $3.61 per share, in the quarter ended July 31, from $978-million, or $2.42 cents per share, a year earlier.

***

British broadcaster ITV said on Thursday it would not bid for Canada's Entertainment One after failing to persuade the owner of the children's TV character Peppa Pig to enter into a formal process.

Canada's Entertainment One said earlier this month it had rejected a 1 billion-pound takeover offer from Britain's biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, saying it undervalued the production and distribution company.

ITV's decision to walk away sent its shares up 2 per cent while the stock of Entertainment One tumbled 18 per cent.

***

Tim Hortons Inc. has shaken up its top ranks as its parent rushes to slash costs in the wake of its $12.5-billion takeover of the coffee-and-doughnut chain in late 2014.

David Clanachan, president of Tim Hortons Canada and a long-time executive of the chain, has been replaced by Sami Siddiqui, previously head of finance at Tim Hortons and, before that, senior director of global finance at sister chain Burger King in Miami.

***

Shares of Home Capital Group Inc. were on a roller coaster this week after a popular investor website accused the company of hiding losses by selling bad mortgages to a firm run by one of its board members.

A report posted by someone identifying as a Home Capital short seller called "The Friendly Bear" on the website Seeking Alpha on Tuesday highlighted more than a dozen mortgages that Home Capital transferred last year to a mortgage brokerage called Re-Charge Corp, based in Ancaster, Ont.

One of Re-Charge's directors is William J. Walker, a partner in the Hamilton office of law firm Gowling WLG. Home Capital appointed Mr. Walker to its board as an independent director last November.

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Shares of Mylan rose 3 percent to $44.45 in premarket trading after the drugmaker said it would reduce the patient cost of its severe allergy treatment drug EpiPen.

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Amgen slipped 1.2 percent after the drugmaker said the FDA had issued a complete response letter for a drug.

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Tiffany rose 1.6 percent to $70 after the company reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit.

***

Workday jumped 10.5 percent to $88 after the maker of human resources software reported a 34 percent rise in quarterly sales.

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Earnings include: Burlington Stores Inc.; Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce; Dollar General Corp.; Dollar Tree Inc.; GameStop Corp.; PWC Capital Inc.; Pure Storage Inc.; Splunk Inc.; Tiffany & Co.; Toronto-Dominion Bank; Zayo Group Holdings Inc;

With files from wire services

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