March 1 (Reuters) - Stock futures pointed to a higher opening for Canada's main stock index on Wednesday ahead of the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision.
The central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates at 0.50 percent when it announces its decision at 10:00 a.m. ET.
March futures on the S&P TSX index were up 0.62 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET.
Current account data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index settled down 0.42 percent on Tuesday, as Bank of Nova Scotia led losses in the heavyweight financial banking sector after reporting quarterly earnings in line with expectations.
Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were up 0.43 percent at 7:15 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.51 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were up 0.5 percent.
(Morning News Call newsletter http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/Morning_News_Call/MNC_US.pdf ; The Day Ahead newsletter http://share.thomsonreuters.com/assets/newsletters/The_Day_Ahead/TDA_NAM.pdf)
TOP STORIES
National Bank of Canada said its first-quarter profit surged 90.4 percent from a year ago, when it took a write-off charge of C$236 million.
TransCanada Corp has suspended a $15 billion NAFTA suit filed against the United States over the Keystone XL pipeline, the company said on Tuesday, after U.S. President Donald Trump approved the project last month.
Torstar Corp, the owner of one of Canada's largest circulation daily newspapers, reported a fourth-quarter profit, compared with a loss a year earlier, when the company recorded a one-time charge of C$213.3 million.
ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Bank of Montreal: Desjardins ups target price to C$104 from C$99; rating "hold"
Bank of Nova Scotia: Barclays raises target price to C$78 from C$73
Capreit: National Bank raises target price to C$35 from C$34
COMMODITIES AT 7:15 a.m. ET
Gold futures: $1242.6; -0.8 percent
US crude: $54.13; +0.22 percent
Brent crude: $56.67; +0.28 percent
LME 3-month copper: $6034.5; +1.03 percent
U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON WEDNESDAY
0830 Personal consumption real mm for Jan: Prior 0.3 pct
0830 Personal Income mm for Jan: Expected 0.3 pct; Prior 0.3 pct
0830 Consumption, adjusted mm for Jan: Expected 0.3 pct; Prior 0.5 pct
0830 Core PCE price index mm for Jan: Expected 0.2 pct; Prior 0.1 pct
0830 Core PCE price index yy for Jan: Prior 1.7 pct
0830 PCE price index mm for Jan: Prior 0.2 pct
0830 PCE price index yy for Jan: Prior 1.6 pct
0900 Dallas fed PCE for Jan: Prior 1.8 pct
0945 Markit Manufacturing PMI Final for Feb: Prior 54.3
1000 Construction spending mm for Jan: Expected 0.6 pct; Prior -0.2 pct