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.
Stock markets around the world are rallying again today. U.S. index futures are up 0.2 per cent with the S&P500 trading up at new highs again, confirming the previous breakout by the Dow. In Europe the FTSE is up 1 per cent while the Dax is up 0.6 per cent.
Energy commodities continue to climb on speculation a production deal could be reached soon ahead of the Nov. 30 big OPEC meeting and on the sudden arrival of winter in the East and Midwest. Metals are also rallying again today with Copper up another 1.4 per cent and silver up 1.3 per cent.
Commodity action is driving rallies in resource stocks and also resource currencies with Canadian dollar, the Norwegian krone, and the Australian and New Zealand dollar all posting gains overnight. Gold is also on the rebound along with the yen, euro, and British pound to a lesser extent as the U.S. dollar's big rally nears exhaustion.
It's another light day for data with the highlight being Canadian retail sales. Tomorrow brings a flurry of U.S. numbers. Today, stateside the focus is on U.S. president-elect Donald Trump's video outlining his plans for his first 100 days in office. In the video he outlines plans to walk away from the Trans Pacific Trade Partnership (TPP) and replace it with more favourable bilateral deals. This could support stocks in general as it indicates the administration remains open to trade under better terms for the U.S.
He also indicated plans to emphasize manufacturing at home, invest in stronger cyber security and loosen restrictions on clean coal and shale energy production. This could influence trading in the auto, steel, manufacturing, coal, energy, and IT security sectors today, we'll see if this has been priced in already or if anticipation has room to grow even further.
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 +0.26 per cent; S&P 500 +0.24 per cent; Nasdaq: +0.46 per cent; TSX 60 +0.23 per cent
Equities
Japan's Nikkei +0.31 per cent
Shanghai composite index +0.98 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng +1.43 per cent
Germany's DAX +0.58 per cent
London's FTSE +0.94 per cent
France's CAC 40 +0.73 per cent
Commodities
WTI crude oil (Nymex Dec.) +0.19 per cent at $48.33 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex Dec.) +59 per cent at $1,216.90 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex Dec.) +1.35 per cent at $2.56 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies
Canadian dollar +0.14 at 74.58 cents (U.S.)
U.S. dollar index -0.14 at 100.91
Bonds
Canada 10-year bond yield -2.94 at 1.53 per cent
KEY ECONOMIC RELEASES
Japan reports October Department Store Sales.
The Euro area reports on its November consumer confidence.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada retail sales for September. Consensus is for a 0.7 per cent increase, and 0.6 per cent increase with autos excluded.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. existing home sales for October. Consensus is for a 0.7 per cent decrease.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Richmond Fed manufacturing index. Estimates are for it to be unchanged.
KEY STOCKS TO WATCH
Also see: Tuesday's small-cap stocks to watch
Shares of Palo Alto dropped 11.7 percent to $142.25 in premarket trading after the cyber security firm forecast revenue for the current quarter that missed the average analysts' estimate.
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Medtronic was off 4.4 percent at $77 after the medical device maker lowered its full-year earnings forecast.
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Dr. Pepper Snapple Group Inc. said on Tuesday it would buy antioxidant beverages maker Bai Brands LLC for $1.7-billion, in cash, in the latest example of a soft-drinks maker investing in products that are perceived to be healthier.
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Bombardier Inc. said it won an eight-year contract valued at $331-million from Montreal's regional transport authority.
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George Weston Ltd. is reporting a big increase in third-quarter profit, mostly because of a decline in restructuring charges, compared with the same time last year. The parent company of Loblaw and Weston Foods says net income available to common shareholders was $254-million, up 72 per cent from $147-million in the comparable period last year.
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Campbell Soup earned an adjusted $1.00 per share for its latest quarter, five cents a share above estimates. Revenue was also above forecasts. The company said it is optimistic about 2017 given improving trends in the U.S. and other factors. Its shares were up 3.6 per cent in premarket trading.
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The private-equity firm KKR & Co. is buying Japanese auto parts maker Calsonic from Nissan Motors and its partners for $4.5-billion.
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Shoe retailer DSW came in two cents a share above estimates, with adjusted quarterly profit of 51 cents per share. Revenue was below forecasts, and a comparable-store sales decline of 2.0 percent was larger than the consensus estimate of a 0.6 percent drop. Its shares were up 4 per cent in premarket trading.
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Jack In The Box came in 15 cents a share ahead of estimates, with adjusted quarterly earnings of $1.03 per share. Its shares were down 3.25 per cent in premarket trading.
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Caterpillar's outlook was revised to "negative" from "stable" by Standard & Poor's, because of a continuing slump in commodities prices and a glut in the heavy equipment market. Its shares were up 0.3 per cent in premarket trading.
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Dollar Tree Inc., the biggest U.S. dollar-store chain after its acquisition of Family Dollar in 2015, said quarterly profit more than doubled, helped by lower merchandise and freight costs. Dollar Tree said its net income rose to $171.6 million, or 72 cents per share, in the third quarter ended Oct. 29 from $81.9 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier. Its shares were up 8.4 per cent in premarket trading.
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Earnings include: Analog Devices Inc.; Avangrid Inc.; Barnes & Noble Inc.; Campbell Soup Co.; George Weston Ltd.; Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.; Hormel Foods Corp.; HP Inc.; Urban Outfitters Inc.; Valspar Corp.;
With files from wire services, cnbc.com, marketwatch.com.