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Toronto stock market to head lower amid earnings news, weak Chinese data(Canadian Press DataFile Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) TORONTO - The Toronto stock market looked set to start the session Wednesday lower amid another heavy slate of earnings news to consider along with signs of weakening Chinese growth. The Canadian dollar was down 0.02 of a cent to 90.66 cents US ahead of February retail sales data coming out later in the morning. New York futures were in the red as traders looked to earnings coming out during the day from tech giants Facebook, Apple and Qualcomm along with aircraft maker Boeing. The Dow Jones industrial futures were off one point to 16,547, the Nasdaq futures slipped 5.2 points to 3,579.8 while the S&P 500 futures were down 1.5 points to 1,872.5. In Canada, traders looked to positive earnings released after the close Tuesday by Canadian National Railways (TSX:CNR). CN’s profit increased 12.2 per cent to $623 million in the first quarter despite the negative effects of a very cold and snowy winter as it beat analyst expectations on both revenue and profit. CN earned 75 cents per share, 10 cents higher than last year. Excluding gains from asset sales, CN earned $551 million or 66 cents per share, three cents ahead of estimates. Revenue grew nine per cent to $2.69 billion, ahead of estimates of $2.64 billion. And on Wednesday, electronics manufacturer Celestica Inc. (TSX:CLS) said it had US$47.1 million of adjusted net earnings in the first quarter, or US$37.3 million under standard accounting, both up substantially from the same time last year — despite soft demand from its customers in the communications equipment sector.< Celestica's revenue of US$1.312 billion missed expectations of $1.36 billion. Its adjusted earnings amounted to 26 cents per share against analyst expectations for 20 cents, but included six cents per share attributed to a positive tax item. In the U.S., Boeing Co. posted a $965 million profit in the first quarter. That is down 12.7 per cent from last year’s $1.1 billion first quarter profit, but that is because Boeing took a $330 million accounting write-off related to changes in its retirement plans. Boeing reported adjusted earnings of $1.76 per share, beating the estimate of $1.56 per share from Wall Street analysts surveyed by FactSet. The company reported $20.47 billion in revenue, more than the $20.15 billion expected. Procter & Gamble, the world's biggest consumer products maker, earned $2.61 billion, or 90 cents per share. That compares with $2.57 billion, or 88 cents per share, last year. Excluding restructuring charges and other items, earnings were $1.04 per share. Analysts' forecast $1.02 per share. Revenue totalled $20.56 billion, down slightly from last year's $20.6 billion on foreign currency fluctuations. Wall Street expected $20.68 billion. Stock markets finished positive on Tuesday amid solid earnings from Canadian Pacific Railway (TSX:CP) and a potential mega-deal in the pharmaceutical sector that could see Canadian drug company Valeant Pharmaceutical International Inc. (TSX:VRX) (NYSE:VRX). Valeant has teamed with Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management in a cash and stock bid worth about US$48 billion for Botox maker Allergan but that company has set up a poison pill defence that could be triggered by Allergan''s board if any hostile group amasses 10 per cent of its equity. Allergan has said it's reviewing Valeant's proposal. Meanwhile, TSX resource stocks could come under pressure Wednesday as data showed that factory activity in China shrank for the fourth straight month in April, though the decline was slightly slower. The preliminary version of HSBC’s purchasing managers’ index edged up 48.3 from March’s 48.0 on a 100-point scale on which numbers above 50 indicate expansion. On the commodity markets, June crude in New York slipped 12 cents to US$101.63 a barrel. May copper was down one cent to $3.04 a pound while June bullion gained $6.50 to US$1,287.60 an ounce. © 2014 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved. |