TSX set to open lower as commodities retreat

The Canadian dollar was down 0.24 of a cent to 100.74 cents US.

U.S. futures were mainly lower with the Dow Jones industrial futures down 26 points to 13,163, the Nasdaq futures inched up 0.2 of a point to 2,777.2 and the S&P 500 futures slipped 2.9 points to 1,409.7.

Molson Coors Brewing Company (NYSE:TAP) (TSX:TPX.A) will pay US$3.5 billion to acquire StarBev, giving the Canadian-American beer maker a new base in Europe and adding more than 20 brands to its portfolio. Molson Coors expects the deal will add to its earnings in the first full year of operations and result in pre-tax operational savings by 2015.

StarBev, headquartered in the Czech Republic, had sales totalling about US$1 billion last year and had US$322 million in profit, after adjustments. Denver based Molson Coors shares were unchanged in pre-market trading in New York at US$45.66.

Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) will pay $1.1 billion cash to buy the remaining half of RBC Dexia, an advisor to pension fund managers and institutional investors. The Canadian bank’s partner, formerly called Dexia SA, had indicated months ago it would sell its half of the joint venture.

Meanwhile, RBC is fending off major allegations from a U.S. regulatory agency. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission accused RBC on Monday of hundreds of millions of dollars in sham trades. The bank calls the allegation absurd since it sought guidance from the CFTC before making the trades and acted within the agency’s guidelines. Royal Bank shares were unchanged at US$58.74 in pre-market trading in New York.

The Toronto stock market ran up 115 points Monday with traders encouraged by a report that showed U.S. industrial production grew in March at a faster pace than expected in March while China said that manufacturers also gained momentum. However, manufacturing data from France and Germany weakened, suggesting Europe will likely face a recession this year.

The data also provided a solid boost for commodity prices. But prices for copper and oil weakened Tuesday as investors awaited the latest reading on U.S. factory orders and the release of the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates in early March.

It’s hoped those minutes will provide reassurance that the central bank will continue to keep rates near zero. Last week, stocks rallied in the aftermath of an indication from Fed chief Ben Bernanke that the central bank will retain its accommodative stance.

Meanwhile, commodity prices gave back some of Monday’s strong gains.

The May crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange declined 80 cents to US$104.43 a barrel after charging ahead more than US$2.

The May copper contract was off two cents to US$3.90. The Chinese data had helped send copper up a dime on Monday. China is the world’s biggest copper consumer.

And the January bullion contract on the Nymex edged $4.90 lower to US$1,674.80 an ounce.

European bourses were lower as London’s FTSE 100 index gave back 0.34%, Frankfurt’s DAX declined 0.36% while the Paris CAC 40 lost 0.62%.

Earlier, stocks in Asia mostly rallied on the back of the previous session’s gains in Europe and North America.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 1.3% while South Korea’s Kospi added 1%. But Japan’s Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6%.

Mainland China markets were closed for public holidays.