U.S. futures pointed to a lower open Tuesday, as Yahoo saw a broker downgrade and the presidential primaries kick into high gear with “super Tuesday.”
In today’s earnings news, Husky Energy Inc. reported an 18.5% rise in profits for 2007, surpassing analyst expectations. It said fourth-quarter earnings doubled to $1.1 billion and annual oil production increased 5% to 377,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Walt Disney, Tyco and NYSE Euronext are among those set to report earnings today.
There are no major economic releases from Statistics Canada today.
The Canadian dollar opened at US$99.87 this morning, down 0.80 of a cent from Monday’s close.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell 87¢ to US$89.15 a barrel by noon in European electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
In Asian markets, Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 0.9%, Tokyo’s Nikkei index closed down 0.8%.
In Europe, the FTSE 100 was down 0.95% early in the afternoon in London. The German DAX lost 0.8% and the Paris CAC 40 declined 1.2%.
Toronto stocks closed lower Monday as gains in the energy sector were undercut by profit-taking among banking and gold issues.
The S&P/TSX composite closed down 57.33 points, or 0.4%, at 13,261.04.
The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index fell 8.57 points, or 0.33%, to 2,567.73.
On Wall Street, U.S. stocks ended lower after brokerages downgraded banks and credit card companies on signs consumers are falling behind on debt payments.
The Dow Jones industrial average was down 108.03 points, or 0.85%, at 12,635.16.
The S&P 500 was down 14.60 points, or 1.05%, at 1,380.82.
The Nasdaq composite index was down 30.51 points, or 1.26%, at 2,382.85.