CANADA STOCKS-TSX set to open higher, Greek worries persist
Posted in Beavers by: admin
May 17 (Reuters) – Canada’s main stock index looked set to
open higher, recovering from a 2012 low hit on Wednesday, as a
stronger gold price helped offset worries about contagion from
Greece spreading to other euro zone countries.
TOP STORIES
* Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd Chief Executive Fred Green
resigned, handing activist shareholder William Ackman a clear
victory after a bruising proxy battle for control of Canada’s
second biggest railroad.
* New U.S. claims for unemployment benefits were unchanged
last week, according to government data on Thursday that will do
little to ease concerns about a recent slowdown in jobs growth.
* Spain’s borrowing costs shot up at a bond auction on
Thursday, after economic data confirmed the country is back in
recession and reports that nationalized Bankia SA had suffered
an outflow of deposits hammered its share price.
* Sears Holdings Corp said it plans to spin off a large part
of its stake in its Canada unit, which has struggled
with weak sales and dragged down overall performance.
* Research In Motion Ltd. : The blackberry-maker
said the UK agency responsible for setting standards for
computer security has approved the BlackBerry 7 operating system
for government use.
MARKET SNAPSHOT
* Canada stock futures traded slightly higher.
* U.S. stock futures , , were down
around 0.21-0.41 percent
* European shares, were down more than a
percent
COMMODITY PRICE MOVES
* Thomson Reuters-Jeffries CRB Index : 289.6; rose
0.09 percent
* Gold Futures : $1,550.6; rose 0.94 percent
* US Crude : $92.95; rose 0.15 percent
* Brent Crude : $109.1; fell 0.59 percent
* LME 3-month Copper : $7,686; rose 0.47 percent
CANADIAN STOCKS TO WATCH
* Enbridge Inc. : The oil transporter kicked off one
of the most sweeping expansions in its history on Wednesday, a
C$3.2 billion series of projects across its pipeline system
aimed at moving western Canada and North Dakota oil to Eastern
refineries and eliminating costly bottlenecks in the U.S.
Midwest.
* Royal Bank of Canada : The bank along with Credit
Suisse are among suitors who have put in initial bids to buy the
non-U.S. wealth management business of Bank of America in a deal
that could be worth about $2 billion, sources said.
ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS
Following is a summary of research actions on Canadian
companies reported by Reuters.
* Allied Properties REIT : Canaccord ups target to
C$28 from C$27 on strong Q1 results; rating hold
* Boardwalk REIT : Macquarie ups price target to
C$65 from C$60 as it sees long-term gain from the REIT’s
unutilized land holdings;rating outperform
* Canadian National : Barclays ups target to C$88
from C$84; rating underweight
* Canadian Pacific Railway : Barclays raises to
overweight from equal weight; ups price target to C$92 from
C$80, as company has potential to nearly double current earnings
* Timmins Gold : Canaccord Genuity raises to hold
from sell on valuation; cuts target price to C$1.60 from C$1.85
ON THE CALENDAR
* Major Canadian economic data includes wholesale trade and
foreign investment
* Major U.S. events and data includes initial claims, Lead
indicator and Phil Fed index
Article source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/17/markets-canada-stocks-idUSL4E8GH6M020120517

