TORONTO, Feb 17 (Reuters) - Toronto’s main stock index may fall at the open on Tuesday as the price of oil slipped and new data suggested a deteriorating European economy.
Growing concern about the health of emerging European nations cast a chill over European shares and U.S. equity futures indicated a sharply lower start for Tuesday.
The S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE fell 3.7 percent last week. It was dragged lower on Friday by financial services stocks on persisting worries about the health of the U.S. banking sector, while materials shares dropped on the falling price of gold.
The TSX was closed on Monday for provincial holidays.
Below is some of the news that may affect the market.
The price of oil fell to around $37 a barrel as bleak economic indicators turned the focus back to the worldwide slump in demand, outweighing lower supplies due to OPEC cutbacks. For more see [ID:nSIN274982].
GOLD RALLIES TO 7-MONTH HIGH
Gold rose more than 2 percent to a seven-month high on reports eastern Europe will be more affected by recession than elsewhere and after Russia’s central bank said it plans to buy more gold. [ID:nLH371948]
Top copper and zinc producer Teck Cominco TCKb.TO swung to a quarterly net loss from a year-ago profit, hurt in part by charges and a decline in commodity prices.
* See also BAY STREET column: Base metal stocks cheap, but no bargain [ID:nN13510]
Trade, energy and the global economic crisis will top the agenda of U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit to Canada on Thursday, his first foreign trip since taking over the White House last month. [ID:nN16309353]
* Factbox: Main issues between Canada and the United States ahead of the one-day visit. [ID:nN16324010]
Nortel Networks Corp NT.TO aims to present its new business plan on how it will scale down its business operations within the next few weeks, a senior company official told Reuters on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona. [ID:nLH526582]
U.S. car makers GM and Chrysler face deadlines on Tuesday on blueprints expected to show how they will pay back billions of dollars of government loans, while European carmakers saw their fates tied closely to their U.S. peers. [ID:nLH623622]
Following is a summary of research actions on Canadian companies reported by Reuters. For more double click [RCH/CA]
* UBS downgrades Air Canada ACa.TO on deteriorating liquidity
* RBC raises Barrick Gold (ABX.TO) price target
* Dundee raises Yamana Gold (YRI.TO) price target
* Genuity cuts Brookfield Asset Management (BAMa.TO) price target (Reporting by Ka Yan Ng; Editing by James Dalgleish)
