Toronto's main stock index looked set to edge higher at Tuesday's opening, after the Federal Reserve signaled it would keep supporting economic growth with loose monetary policy, but concerns about the euro-zone debt crisis may limit gains.
Among stocks to watch this morning, Centerra Gold said it expects production from its Kumtor mine in the Kyrgyz Republic to be lower than its forecast as increased ice movement delays access to a high-grade zone.
Rival Barrick Gold said it sees lower cash costs at its Lumwana mine in Zambia in 2013 as mining at the copper project moves out of the lower grade material in the Malundwe pit and into the new Chimiwungo pit.
ON BAYSTREET
The S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 109.13 points Monday to 12,574.79
The TSX Venture Exchange closed Monday higher by 25.87 points to 1,581.39, while the Nasdaq Canada index gathered 7.29 to 418.16
The Canadian dollar gained 0.10 cents this morning to 100.81 cents U.S.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. index futures were almost unchanged with about 30 minutes before markets open, suggesting stocks will be somewhat stagnant at the start of trading. Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average were down 16 points or less than 0.1% to 13, 184.
Futures for the broader S&P 500 were down 2.3 points, or 0.2%, to 1,412.80, and for the tech-rich Nasdaq, futures were off 2.5 points, or 0.1%, to 2,774.50.
In Europe, the U.K.'s FTSE 100 was flat, but Germany's DAX index was up 0.6% in afternoon trading. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said that the euro-zone should boost its financial firewall to €1 trillion, which is about double the current level.
Germany has said that it is on side with increasing the size of the firewall. In Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 rose 2.4% in overnight trading.
Key commodity prices moved a little higher. Crude oil rose to $107.23 U.S. a barrel, up 0.2%. Gold rose to $1,690.50 U.S. an ounce, up 0.3%.
