Canada's main stock index looked set to open higher on Monday as oil prices recovered ahead of a meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Friday.
The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 56.95 points to end the week at 13,368.24. December futures on the S&P TSX index were up 0.3%
The Canadian dollar inched up 0.07 cents to 74.84 cents U.S. early Monday
BlackBerry says it will delay shutting down its operations in Pakistan until Dec. 30 as negotiations continue over government demands for access to users' private data.
National Bank Financial raised the target price Canadian Western Bank to $26.00 from $25.00
National Bank Financial cut the target price on Empire Co. to $31.00 from $32.67
CIBC initiated coverage on Merus Labs with an outperform rating and a price target of $2.90
A Reuters poll suggests that, after shocking markets with an interest rate cut at the start of the year, the Bank of Canada is expected to end 2015 by holding rates steady through next year and waiting for better U.S. growth to provide a boost.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange squeezed higher 0.26 points to close Friday at 521.99.
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures are flat on Cyber Monday.
Ahead of the opening bell, futures for the Dow Jones hiked 41 points, or 0.2%, to 17,842, futures for the S&P 500 gained 4.25 points, or 0.2%, to 2,094.25, and futures for the NASDAQ took on 16.5 points, or 0.4%, to 4,699.
Cyber Monday is giving a lift to some retailers. Amazon is rising 0.4% pre-market, and Gap is up 0.3%. Paypal is up 0.7%.
BHP Billiton is down 4.5% in London. The Brazilian government said it intends to sue the mining giant for $5.2 billion U.S. over the collapse of a dam in Minas Gerais state earlier this month.
New York-listed Chinese classified advertising website 58.com and the mobile game publishing company iDreamSky Technology Ltd. will report before the opening bell. Internet service provider NQ Mobile, Shoe Carnival Inc, and Thor Industries will follow after the close.
The U.S. Pending Home Sales report comes out at 10 a.m. ET. The data gives investors a glimpse of the trends in the U.S. housing market and is one of a range of data the Fed will consider when deciding whether to raise interest rates in December.
European markets are mixed in early trading. Asian markets also ended the session mixed. Chinese markets experienced sharp selloffs midday, but recovered later in the day.
The International Monetary Fund is expected Monday to include the Chinese yuan in the IMF's Special Drawing Rights basket, the elite group of currencies used to value reserve assets.
China has pushed for the yuan to be part of the mix, which currently includes the dollar, euro, British pound and Japanese yen.
Nearly 150 world leaders are meeting at the COP21 climate summit in Paris this week. They will try to reach an agreement on legally-binding reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.
Finally, OPEC is set to meet on Friday to discuss its strategy for next year, with heated discussion about maintaining high production to protect the oil cartel's market share despite low oil prices.
Oil prices added 0.44 cents to $42.17 U.S. a barrel
Gold prices gained $1.98 to $1,059.43 U.S. an ounce.
