BEFORE THE OPEN
Source: Thomson Reuters

• Futures for Canada's main stock index were in the green, tracking gains in gold prices which edged higher on a softer U.S. dollar
• U.S. stock index futures rose, with investors’ focus set on the Federal Reserve's Jackson Hole conference for clues on the pace of rate hikes
• European shares struggled for direction, ahead of minutes from the last policy meeting of ECB
• Japan's Nikkei ended higher, led by gains in drug makers and technology stocks
• Oil prices were mixed in a choppy trade, with concerns surrounding supply tightness keeping losses in check

• The company plans to shut down its virtual healthcare service by the end of this year, the retailer said on Wednesday, as a deal to buy a rival provider awaits regulatory approval
• Company executive Neil Lindsay told staff that Amazon Care, which lets business customers offer digital or at-home doctors' visits to their personnel, had shortcomings despite the retailer's efforts
• "It is not a complete enough offering for the large enterprise customers we have been targeting, and wasn’t going to work long-term," he said in the message, which the company shared with Reuters

• Australia's Ramsay Health Care said it received a "meaningfully inferior" alternate proposal from a group led by KKR that would allow it to retain a 37% stake in its Paris-based unit Ramsay Generale De Sante
• Under the alternate bid, Ramsay shareholders would be entitled to receive the full A$88 per share offer for the first 5,000 shares
• After that, the consideration would be split into A$78.20 per share and 0.22 Ramsay Sante shares
• That implies a value of A$84.93 per share for holdings in excess of 5,000 shares excluding any dividends, the company said

• The company said its vaccine for Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) was effective among older adults in a late-stage study and it plans to file for approval with the U.S. health regulator in the coming months
• Pfizer's vaccine was 85.7% effective among participants with three or more symptoms, and 66.7% for two or more symptoms, according to an interim analysis carried out by an external data monitoring panel
• The vaccine, RSVpreF, was also found to be well-tolerated with no safety concerns in the study
• Pfizer's shot is designed to target two strains of the respiratory virus
• The company has so far enrolled about 37,000 participants aged 60 and above in its late-stage global study of the vaccine

• The company beat analysts' estimates for third-quarter profit, which declined from a year earlier as higher expenses and provisions for credit losses outweighed strong lending growth, and as capital markets earnings fell
• Net income, excluding one-off items, fell to C$1.85 per share for the three months ended July 31 from C$1.96 a year earlier
• While total revenue rose 10%, with increases in both interest and trading income, expenses also climbed 10% on an adjusted basis, due to strategic initiatives and inflation
• Adjusted pre-tax, pre-provision earnings increased 10%
• The bank reported an overall net profit of C$1.78 per share, compared with C$1.88 a year earlier

• The graphics chip designer on Wednesday forecast a sharp drop in revenue in the current quarter on the back of a weaker gaming industry
• The company said it expected third quarter revenue of $5.90 billion, down 17% on year, but said the declines would be partially offset by growth in the data center and automotive business
• The company's second quarter revenue of $6.70 billion was significantly lower than the $8.10 billion Nvidia forecast in May
• Its gaming division posted revenue of $2.04 billion, down 33% year on year
• Data center revenue held up at $3.81 billion, up 61% year on year
• Nvidia said it took a $1.34 billion charge in the second quarter as it wrote down inventory built up when it thought the gaming and data center markets would be much stronger

• The company on Wednesday cut its annual revenue and profit forecasts over "measured" spending from clients and a hit from a stronger dollar
• Salesforce also announced stock repurchase of up to $10 billion, its first-ever buyback, while warning of challenges in North America and major European markets for some of its products
• The company cut its revenue forecast to between $30.90 billion and $31.00 billion, below estimates of $31.73 billion
• It also lowered the adjusted profit forecast to $4.71-$4.73
• Salesforce second-quarter results topped Wall Street expectations, with adjusted profit of $1.19 per share coming 17 cents higher than estimates, and revenue at $7.72 billion slightly ahead of estimates of $7.70 billion

• Excitement reaches a crescendo tomorrow with Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell due to give a keynote speech at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium
• The potential for a market upset is high as stocks, bonds and commodities have been moving lower in lockstep in anticipation of the speech in recent sessions
• President Joe Biden announced a sweeping package of student-debt relief that forgives as much as $20,000 in loans for some recipients

• Stocks rose Thursday as China’s massive 1 trillion yuan ($146 billion) stimulus and better-than-expected data from Germany steadied some nerves