Traders work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange June 6, 2014.Reuters
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.
U.S. and Canadian stock futures are modestly in the red this morning amid mixed and mostly lethargic trading overseas on the final trading day of the quarter and first half of the year. Futures are down around 0.1 per cent to 0.2 per cent, suggesting a slightly lower open at 930 a.m. (ET).
With Canadian markets closed Tuesday for Canada Day, and the U.S. closed on Friday for the Fourth of July, many traders will be in holiday mode this week. But a full schedule of economic reports, including the U.S. nonfarm payrolls report on Thursday, could introduce volatility as the week plays out.
Today, the U.S. will release pending home sales data for May shortly after markets open, and Canada will be releasing a reading on April gross domestic product at 830 a.m. (ET) that will be closely monitored by currency and bond markets.
Crude oil prices are down roughly half a percent this morning as the situation in Iraq remains tense but relatively unchanged, with sectarian fighting so far not spreading to the south, where more than three-quarters of the country's oil production originates. Iraq's oil minister said last week that the nation's oil exports will actually accelerate next month.
Canadian investors will have a lot to celebrate this Canada Day when it comes to domestic stock market returns so far this year; the S&P/TSX composite index has gained just over 10 per cent for the first six months of 2014, outpacing the 6 per cent for the S&P 500 and surpassing almost every other developed world stock market. Markets in the second of the year will face a key hurdle for further gains: the expected move sometime next year by the Federal Reserve to start hiking interest rates after years of record low rates.
Now, here's a closer look at what's going on this morning and what is still to come today.
MARKETS:
Equities:
Futures: S&P 500 -0.09 per cent; Dow -0.14 per cent; Nasdaq -0.01; S&P/TSX -0.13 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -0.13 per cent
Shanghai composite index +0.56 per cent
Japan's Nikkei +0.44 per cent
London's FTSE 100 -0.04 per cent
Germany's DAX +0.17 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.34 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Aug) -0.43 per cent at $105.29 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Aug) -0.47 per cent at $1,313.80 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Sep) unchanged at $3.17 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 93.59 (U.S.), down 0.0018
U.S. dollar index down 0.01 at 80.02
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 2.53 per cent, down 0.02
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
Canadian GDP rose 0.1 per cent in April from March, weaker than the rise of 0.2 per cent expected by economists.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. will release its pending home sales data for May, with the consensus expecting a rise of 1.3 per cent.
(1:10 p.m. ET) Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams speaks.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
American Apparel shares are down 7 per cent in the premarket after it said Saturday it adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan to better protect shareholders. The action is in response to reports of rapid accumulation of American Apparel shares and after a regulatory filing in which its ousted founder and CEO expressed intent to increase control.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Citigroup upgraded TransCanada to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $61 (Canadian) from $51.
Industrial Alliance Securities downgraded Amaya Gaming Group to "hold" from "buy" as the stock has reached its $23 (Canadian) price target.
Barclays upgraded Canadian National Railway to "overweight" from "equalweight" and raised its price target to $72 (U.S.) from $60.
Barclays upgraded Norfolk Southern to "overweight" from "equalweight" and raised its price target to $112 (U.S.) from $100.
B. Riley upgraded KLA-Tencor to "buy" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $82 (U.S.) from $65.
Piper Jaffray upgraded Yahoo to "overweight" from "neutral" and raised its price target to $43 (U.S.) from $37, believing that the company's stake in Alibaba is undervalued at its current price.
Macquarie downgraded Wells Fargo to "underperform" from "neutral" with a price target of $48 (U.S.).
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTING LINKS:
Ivy league schools have underperformed just about every major index by a pretty healthy margin.
Silver has broken out as hedge funds start covering their shorts.
Where have all the traders gone?
The spooky 1929 chart that swept across trading desks several months ago doesn't look so frightening anymore.
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For instant headlines on breaking economic and corporate news in the premarket, follow Darcy Keith on Twitter at @eyeonequities.