The Before the Bell report is updated throughout the premarket to reflect the latest news developments and market moves. Check back later for updates.
Stock futures are pointing to a mildly weaker start to North American trading, with caution in the air one day before the European Central Bank announces its next steps on getting the euro zone economy back on track.
The market is widely expecting the ECB to announce a more than 500 billion euro bond-buying - or quantitative easing - program Thursday after a policy meeting. But comments today from a member of the bank's council have some wondering whether there will be some disappointment following the announcement. Ewald Nowotny, who is also governor of Austria's central bank, said policy makers and central bankers should keep to a longer-term perspective and not get overexcited about Thursday ECB meeting.
European stock markets are relatively quiet today ahead of Thursday's ECB announcement. There was more action overnight in Asia, where the Shanghai index soared 4.7 per cent. Chinese equities tumbled more than 7 per cent on Monday after the country announced a crackdown on margin financing. But better-than-expected gross domestic product data on Tuesday have helped turned things around in a hurry. The numbers have eased concerns about a hard landing in the Chinese economy, and the focus now turns to the 2015 growth target Chinese policymakers will announce in March.
In Japan, the Nikkei ended half a percentage point lower, with stocks there coming under pressure from a stronger yen. The Bank of Japan maintained its massive monetary stimulus program today and expanded a loan program that should encouraged banks to boost lending, steps intended for the country to achieve its 2 per cent inflation target.
In Canada, a focus will be on the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision and monetary policy report at 10 a.m. (ET), which could easily influence currency and bond markets.
Meanwhile, today brings several fourth-quarter earnings results in the U.S. The earnings season is just getting underway, with less than 10 per cent of S&P 500 companies having reported. So far, 75 percent have topped earnings expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, and about 52 per cent have topped on revenue.
More on those and much more below.
MARKETS:
Futures:
S&P 500 -0.23 per cent; Dow -0.37 per cent; Nasdaq -0.18 per cent; S&P/TSX -0.10 per cent
Equities:
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +1.68 per cent
Shanghai composite index +4.76 per cent
Japan's Nikkei -0.50 per cent
London's FTSE 100 +0.69 per cent
Germany's DAX -0.24 per cent
France's CAC 40 -0.29 per cent
Stoxx 600 +0.01 per cent
Commodities:
WTI crude oil (Nymex Mar) +0.47 per cent at $46.69 (U.S.) a barrel
Natural gas (Nymex Mar) +5.32 per cent at $2.97
Gold (Comex Feb) +0.20 per cent at $1,296.80 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Mar) -1.87 per cent at $2.55 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies:
Canadian dollar at 82.81 (U.S.), up 0.0022
U.S. dollar index down 0.31 at 92.73
Bonds:
U.S. 10-year Treasury yield 1.81 per cent, up 0.02
ECONOMIC INDICATORS:
U.S. building permits for December came in at 1.032 million, below the annualized rate of 1.060 million that was expected by economists. Housing starts came in at 1.089 million, below the 1.040 million that was forecast, but still up 4.4 per cent from November.
Canadian wholesale trade fell by 0.3 percent in November from October, as increases in sales for the food and beverage industry and automobiles were offset by declines in the sale of machinery, building supplies, and farm products. The market was expecting a decline of 0.2 per cent.
(10 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada policy announcement and monetary policy report.
(11:15 a.m. ET) Monetary policy report press conference with Bank of Canada governor Poloz and senior deputy governor Wilkins.
STOCKS TO WATCH:
UnitedHealth was up about 2 per cent in premarket trading after reporting quarterly results that beat expectations.
Netflix is up about 17 per cent in premarket trading after late Tuesday announcing results that beat the Street consensus and giving an upbeat outlook for subscriber additions.
International Business Machines shares are down nearly 3 per cent in premarket trading after its 2015 earnings forecast trailed some analysts' estimates.
Qualcomm shares were down about 5 per cent in premarket trading amid unconfirmed reports that Samsung Electronics will not use its chip in the next version of its smartphone.
Microsoft today will unveil its latest version of Windows, which will reach consumers later this year.
Other earnings include: American Express Co., Briggs & Stratton Corp., Cathay General Bancorp, Coach Inc., Discover Financial Services, Dolby Laboratories Inc., eBay Inc., Energen Corp., F5 Networks Inc., Fifth Third Bancorp, General Dynamics Corp., Horizon Bancorp, iGATE Corp., Logitech International S.A., Motorola Solutions Inc., Pacific Continental Corp., Raymond James Financial Inc., SanDisk Corp., U.S. Bancorp.
ANALYST ACTIONS:
Wells Fargo upgraded ExxonMobil to "outperform" from "market perform" and raised its price target range to $108-106 (U.S.) from $88-96.
Wells Fargo downgraded Chevron to "market perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $108-116 (U.S.) from $121-132.
Raymond James downgraded Tahoe Resources to "market perform" from "outperform" and raised its price target to $19 (Canadian) from $17.25.
RBC Dominion Securities downgraded Gran Tierra Energy to "sector perform" from "outperform" and cut its price target to $5 (Canadian) from $8.
Morgan Stanley upgraded Low's to "overweight" from "equalweight" with a price target of $80 (U.S.).
THIS MORNING'S TOP INVESTMENT READS ON THE WEB:
The problem with mean reversion: You have no way of knowing when the tides are going to turn.
These unloved stocks may beat the S&P 500 again in 2015.
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Darcy Keith