TORONTO - The Toronto stock market appeared set to open little changed Wednesday amid a quiet economic calendar and a potential major shift in the Canadian retail landscape.
U.S. retailer Sears Holdings Corp. (Nasdaq:SHLD) is considering selling its 51 per cent interest in Sears Canada (TSX:SCC) as the retailer continues with efforts to turn around its business. Sears Holdings previously sold some store leases in Canada. Its overall business has been struggling after years of sales declines and it has been closing some unprofitable stores. Its shares were up 6.5 per cent in pre-market trading in New York.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.03 of a cent to 91.69 cents US.
U.S. futures were lower as the Dow Jones industrial futures were down 13 points to 16,662, the Nasdaq futures dipped 2.3 points to 3,606.5 and the S&P futures declined 2.5 points to 1,891.8.
In earnings news, overnight service Cargojet reports a first quarter net loss of $1.6 million, or 19 cents per share, compared with a loss of $407,000, or five cents per share, in the same quarter of 2013. Revenues were up 7.4 per cent to $43.7 million.
Deere is reporting a 9.5 per cent decline in second-quarter net income to $980.7 million, or $2.65 per share, compared with $1.08 billion, or $2.76 per share, in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue fell 8.9 per cent to $9.95 billion on lower demand for farming equipment. Deere expects a four per cent drop in equipment revenue for fiscal 2014, the same decrease it’s expecting for the current quarter and its shares were down one per cent in pre-market trading.
Sony Corp. sank to a 138 billion yen ($1.3 billion) quarterly loss, hit by costs from selling its personal computer business. The maker of the PlayStation 4 game console, Bravia TVs and Walkman digital player also reported Wednesday a loss of 128.4 billion yen for the fiscal year through March 2014, about three times its loss of 41.5 billion yen the previous year.
Investors will look to results from Cisco Systems after the close.
On the commodity markets, June crude in New York gained 33 cents to US$102.03 a barrel.
July copper gained four cents to US$3.17 a pound while June bullion rose $11.50 to US$1,306.30 an ounce.
The TSX chalked up a 25-point gain Tuesday amid well-received earnings reports from energy giant Encana (TSX:ECA) and home improvement retailer Rona (TSX:RON). New York indexes also registered minor gains during a session that saw the S&P 500 index cross the 1,900-level for the first time.