Canadian stocks are likely to open on a somewhat sluggish note Wednesday, reacting to a mixed batch of U.S. economic data.
With crude oil prices rather sluggish ahead of weekly inventory data and the forthcoming OPEC meet Thursday, energy stocks may turn in a mixed performance.
While weekly U.S. jobless claims rose unexpectedly last week, durable goods orders were up in October, beating forecasts. That said, the inner details of the durable goods orders report were mixed, as excluding the volatile transportation orders, the order data was anemic. Personal income and spending data was also lackluster.
Investors are likely track more economic data out of the U.S, due later this morning.
On Tuesday, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 57.41 points or 0.38 percent at 15,072.82.
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP.TO) said it would buy up to 1.21 million of its common shares following private agreements to be entered into between CP and a third-party seller. The price for these shares will be at a discount to the prevailing market price of CP common shares on the Toronto Stock Exchange at the time of purchase.
Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) will be in focus after Grupo Financiero Santander México, S.A.B. de C.V. (BSMX) agreed to acquire a consumer loan portfolio worth about 4.10 billion pesos or $300 million, from the bank's Mexican unit.
In commodities, crude oil futures for January delivery are down $0.25 percent or 0.30 percent at $73.76 a barrel, ahead of inventory data.
Natural gas for January is down $0.013 or 0.30 percent at $4.390 per million btu.
Gold futures for February are up $0.30 or 0.03 percent at $1,198.10 an ounce.
Silver for February is up $0.037 or 0.22 percent at $16.648 an ounce. Meanwhile, copper is down $0.017 or 0.56 percent at $2.961 per pound, near an 8-month low.
Data released by the U.S. Labor Department this morning showed initial jobless claims to have unexpectedly risen to 313,000 in the week ended November 22nd, up 21,000 from the previous week's revised level of 292,000.
Meanwhile, a report from the U.S. Commerce Department showed durable goods orders to have unexpectedly climbed by 0.4 percent in October following a revised 0.9 percent decline in the preceding month.
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