Concerns about the global economy have returned to focus and that is likely to send the Toronto stock market lower in early trading Tuesday.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.07 to 102.60 cents US.
New York futures were lower with the Dow Jones industrial futures down 15 points to 13,346, the Nasdaq futures declined 5.25 points to 2,791, and the S&P 500 futures dipped 1.7 points to 1,437.8.
Top of mind is an apparent delay in Spain’s acceptance of a financial aid package. The country’s markets have improved in recent weeks on expectations that the government will get some form of rescue loan from the 16 other eurozone countries. But Madrid has not made any formal request yet, likely wary of the policy conditions that would come attached.
The delay pushed the country’s bond yields sharply higher on Monday, suggesting an increase in investor concern about the government’s finances. The yields eased back somewhat on Tuesday after a bond auction was well-received. The sale of 12- and 18-month debt saw strong demand and resulted in lower interest rates than in the previous such auctions.
Meanwhile, FedEx is adding to the tensions after saying that the global economy is worsening. The company is cutting its forecast again for the full-year that ends in May.
FedEx is widely considered a barometer of the global economy because it serves a broad slate of industries.
Commodity prices were mixed with October crude off 69 cents to US$95.93 a barrel.
December copper was down 2.7 cents at US$3.77 a pound while December bullion fell US$5.30 to US$1,765.30 an ounce.
Elsewhere, Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.6% per cent to 5,855.69 and Germany’s DAX shed 1% to 7,326.45. France’s CAC-40 lost 1.2% to 3,511.36.
Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index fell 0.4% to 9,123.77. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.3% to 20,601.93 and Australia’s S&P ASX/200 fell 0.2% to 4,394.70.