Canadian stock futures retreated on Wednesday, dragged by weaker bullion prices, while investors eyed the prospect of a Democrat-controlled Senate in the United States.
The TSX leaped 154.74 points to end Tuesday at 17,682.51.
The Canadian dollar picked up 0.17 cents to 79.06 cents U.S.
March futures nosed up 0.02% Tuesday.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the whole nation was frustrated by how slowly provinces are vaccinating people against the coronavirus and promised Ottawa would help speed the pace of inoculations.
BMO raised the target price on Finning International to $32.00 from $23.00
Scotiabank raises target price on Pinnacle Renewable Energy to $11.00 from $9.00
TD Securities raises target price on Endeavour Silver to $8.00 from $6.00
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange charged ahead 10.81 points, or 1.2%, Tuesday to 899.85
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were mixed early Wednesday as Wall Street kept an eye on two runoff elections in Georgia that will determine control of the Senate.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 38 points, or 0.1%, to 30,323.
Futures for the S&P 500 fell 11.25 points, or 0.3%, at 3,707
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite tumbled 185.75 points, or 1.5%, to 12,607.75.
Democrat Raphael Warnock is projected by some media outlets to win the Georgia U.S. Senate special election runoff against incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler. The other runoff race between Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican David Perdue is reportedly too close to call.
If both Democrats win, that would make a 50-50 tie in the upper chamber, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris as the tiebreaker vote to give the party control of the Senate.
Some on Wall Street fear that a Democrat-controlled Senate could lead to higher corporate taxes and tougher regulations on companies, which could weigh on the broader market. However, this outcome could also facilitate the passing of additional fiscal stimulus, which could give a boost to companies hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic.
Tech stocks could be hit the hardest if Democrats control the Senate as investors rotate away from growth stocks and into names that would benefit most from another stimulus. Also, higher tax rates could hit tech shares more than the rest of the market. Apple and Facebook both fell about 2% in pre-market trading.
Certain stocks gained on expectations for another stimulus to fight the COVID economic slowdown. United Airlines shares rose 1.5% and Carnival Corp. was higher by more than 2%.
Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 faded 0.4% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index gained 0.2%.
Oil prices slid 21 cents to $49.72 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices faded $18.90 at $1,935.50 U.S.
