TOP NEWS
• Canada's new spending to be targeted on healthcare, clean tech, finance minister says
Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland on Friday said new spending on healthcare and ramping up clean technologies would be in this year's budget, but she added it was her goal not to fuel inflation.
• China's oil demand bounce may push producers to reconsider output - IEA
Oil producers may have to reconsider their output policies following a demand recovery in China, the world's second-largest oil consumer, the International Energy Agency's Executive Director Fatih Birol said on Sunday.
• Gold giant Newmont's $16.9 billion bid for Newcrest clouded by deal doubts
Top gold producer Newmont said it had made a $16.9 billion offer for Australian peer Newcrest Mining to build a global gold behemoth, although investors and analysts said it undervalued the target amid a leadership change.
• AI startup Cohere in talks to raise funding at $6 billion plus valuation -sources
Cohere, an AI foundation model company that competes with Microsoft-backed OpenAI, is in talks to raise hundreds of millions of dollars in a funding round that could value the startup at more than $6 billion, sources told Reuters, in the latest sign of the investment frenzy around generative AI.
• Canadian miner First Quantum suspends loading operations at Cobre Panamá port
First Quantum said its subsidiary Minera Panama, the operator of Cobre Panama copper mine, has suspended concentrate loading operations at the Cobre Panamá port.
BEFORE THE BELL
Canada's main stock index futures fell, mirroring Wall Street futures as investors awaited more corporate results this week and a crucial speech by the U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell to assess the path of future interest rate hikes by the central bank. European shares dropped, led by losses in the continent's largest copper producer, Aurubis. In Asian equity markets, Japan's Nikkei closed at its highest in more than seven weeks as a weaker yen boosted automakers and other exporters, while Chinese shares dipped as elevated Sino-U.S. geopolitical tensions over a suspected spy balloon dented investor sentiment. Oil prices inched up, recovering from an 8% fall last week. The U.S. dollar rose against a basket of major currencies. Gold regained some ground on firm safe-haven demand bets.
STOCKS TO WATCH
• First Quantum Minerals Ltd: The company said its subsidiary Minera Panama, the operator of Cobre Panama copper mine, has suspended concentrate loading operations at the Cobre Panamá port. Late last month, Panama Maritime Authority had issued the miner a resolution to suspend loading until evidence for the process of certification of calibration of scales by an accredited company was provided, the company said in a release. The Canadian miner added that it might become necessary to shut down Cobre Panama if the concentrate is not shipped by mid-February, due to limited storage capacity on site.
FOCUS
Drug companies face COVID cliff in 2023 as sales set to plummet
Pharmaceutical companies that made billions from the pandemic over the past two years selling vaccines and treatments are now up against a steep COVID cliff and investor pressure to spend their windfalls wisely.
ANALYSTS' RECOMMENDATION
• Lightspeed Commerce Inc: Atb Capital Markets cuts target price to C$55 from C$60, factoring in the economic conditions that weighed on the company leading to the inability to beat its quarterly guidance.
• MTY Food Group Inc: CIBC raises target price to C$77 from C$70, citing the company's recent acquisition of BBQ Holdings, generating impressive returns and further diversification.
ECONOMIC EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
0600 Leading index mm for Jan: Prior -0.28%
1000 Ivey PMI for Jan: Prior 40.6
1000 Ivey PMI SA for Jan 33.4
COMPANIES REPORTING RESULTS
February 6:
Finning International Inc: Expected Q4 earnings of 82 Canadian cents per share
PrairieSky Royalty Ltd: Expected Q4 earnings of 32 Canadian cents per share
TFI International Inc: Expected Q4 earnings of $1.77 per share
TMX Group Ltd: Expected Q4 earnings of C$1.71 per share
February 7:
FirstService Corp: Expected Q4 earnings of $1.18 per share
Intact Financial Corp: Expected Q4 earnings of C$3.09 per share
CORPORATE EVENTS (All timings in U.S. Eastern Time)
1700 TFI International Inc: Q4 earnings conference call
(All analysts' estimates are according to I/B/E/S Refinitiv data)
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