By RTT News, February 25, 2013, 08:49:00 AM EDT
(RTTNews.com) - Canadian stocks may open higher Monday amid a rebound in commodities and positive cues from the global equity markets. While most Asian markets settled higher overnight, European shares were in the green, with traders overlooking downbeat manufacturing data out of China and Moody's downgrade of UK bond rating.
Moody's Investors Service downgraded the nation's sovereign rating by one notch to Aa1 late Friday, while assigning 'stable' outlook. In a related action, the rating agency also lowered the ratings of the Bank of England to Aa1 from Aaa.
U.S. stock futures were pointing to a higher open.
On Friday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index added 61.65 points or 0.49 percent to 12,701.63.
The price of crude oil was moving higher Monday morning with the US dollar leveling off from its recent highs versus a basket of currencies. Crude for April rose $0.95 to $94.08 a barrel.
The price of gold was recovering from its recent losses Monday morning as the U.S. dollar was struggling to sustain recent gains, with traders awaiting cues from this week's macroeconomic data. Gold for April rebounded $17.30 to $1,590.10 an ounce.
In corporate news from Canada, Onex Corp. (OCX.TO) and its affiliates or Onex Group announced that they have completed the sale of their 50 percent interest in RSI Home Products to the company for $323 million.
Information technology solution provider Hartco Inc. (HCI.TO) slipped into the red in fourth-quarter, reporting net loss of C$1.0 million or C$0.08 per share compared to net earnings of C$0.5 million or C$0.03 per share in the year ago quarter.
Flag fleet of dry and liquid bulk carriers Algoma Central Corp. (ALC.TO) reported a lower fourth-quarter net earnings of C$24.5 million or C$0.60 per share compared to C$33.3 million or C$0.84 per share in the comparable quarter last year.
In economic news from the euro zone, U.K. mortgage approvals declined unexpectedly to 32,288 in January from 33,440 in the prior month, the British Bankers' Association said. It was forecast to rise to 34,000. At the same time, gross mortgage borrowing of GBP 7.7 billion in January was above the recent monthly average.
Italy's merchandise trade with countries outside the European Union (EU) resulted in a deficit in January compared to a surplus in the previous month, preliminary data released by statistical office Istat showed. The trade balance was a deficit of EUR2.28 billion in January, compared the EUR3.32 billion surplus recorded in December.
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