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.
Markets are in fine shape this morning, with stock futures suggesting the S&P 500 will have enough juice to hit a fresh record high when the regular trading day gets underway.
Wall Street is returning from a three-day long weekend after the S&P 500 closed above the 1,900 level for the first time on Friday. That has set a positive backdrop on the charts and investors are optimistic the rally can keep going given that the second-quarter earnings season that recently wrapped up surpassed consensus expectations.
Stronger-than-expected U.S. durable goods orders and housing price data created further optimism this morning. Shortly after the market open will be a report on U.S. consumer confidence.
The S&P 500 is less than 2 points away from its record high, the Dow 130 points, and the battered Nasdaq is 185 points below its highest point.
Canada's S&P/TSX composite index is only about 50 points away from hitting a fresh six-year high, although it could struggle to surpass that level given the dampening impact of lower crude oil and gold prices this morning.
The banking sector should once again be a bright spot for the TSX today, as Bank of Nova Scotia has become the latest of the Big 5 banks to surpass analysts' earnings expectations for the latest quarter.
Now, here's a closer look at what's going on this morning and what's still to come.
MARKETS:
Equities:
Futures: S&P 500 +0.42 per cent; Dow +0.40 per cent; Nasdaq +0.52; S&P Toronto +0.24 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.08 per cent
Shanghai composite index -0.32 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +0.24 per cent
London's FTSE 100 +0.50 per cent
Germany's DAX +0.40 per cent
France's CAC 40 +0.02 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Jly) -0.25 per cent at $104.11 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Aug) -0.67 per cent at $1,283.20 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Jly) +0.11 per cent at $3.17 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 92.24 cents (U.S.), up 0.0016
U.S. dollar index down 0.10 at 80.28
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.54 per cent, up 0.006
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
U.S. durable goods orders in April rose 0.8 per cent, versus economists' expectations for a drop of 0.7 per cent. March durable goods orders were revised to 3.6 per cent from 2.9 per cent.
The U.S. S&P Case-Shiller Home Price Index for March rose 1.24 per cent from February, stronger than the 0.7 per cent rise expected.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Conference Board releases consumer confidence index for May. Consensus is for 83.0, up from April's 82.3.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
Bank of Nova Scotia reported adjusted income in its last quarter of $1.40 a share, beating analyst estimates of $1.31 per share.
Other earnings today include: National Bank of Canada, AutoZone, Qihoo 360, Workday, JinkoSolar Holding.
Pilgrim's Pride has made an offer to buy Hillshire Brands for $6.4-billion (U.S.), or $45 a share. Hillshire Brands shares are up 22 per cent in premarket trading at $45.48.
Pfizer shares are up 0.7 per cent in premarket trading a day after the U.S. drugmaker walked away from its bid to buy AstraZeneca for about $118-billion (U.S.). U.S.-traded AstraZeneca shares are down 1.6 per cent.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
BMO Nesbitt Burns hiked its price target on Saputo to $66 (Canadian) from $57 and reiterated an "outperform" rating.
Deutsche Bank upgraded Cisco to "buy" from "hold" and raised its price target to $30 (U.S.) from $25.
Goldman Sachs upgraded Office Depot to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $7 (U.S.) from $5.40.
Goldman Sachs downgraded Staples to "sell" from "neutral" and cut its price target to $11 (U.S.) from $11.50.
Topeka Capital upgraded Bonanza Creek Energy to "buy" from "hold" with a price target of $68 (U.S.)
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING LINKS:
The biggest early mistakes of Warren Buffett.
10 high-conviction purchases of ultimate stock-pickers.
Investing in a hedge fund isn't really worth the bother.
Why we should be concerned that volatility has disappeared from the economy and markets.
There's still good reason to be investing in low-volatility stocks.
Darcy Keith