Sept 11 (Reuters) - Futures pointed to a flat opening for Canada's main stock index on Tuesday, with investors keeping a close watch on another round of talks between Canadian and U.S. officials to revamp the North America Free Trade Agreement.
Canadian Foreign Minister Chrystia Freeland will meet U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer in Washington for another round of talks to renew the NAFTA trade pact, an official said on Monday, as time runs short to seal a deal.
After more than a year of negotiations, Canada and the United States are still trying to resolve differences over the trade agreement, which also includes Mexico. futures on the S&P/TSX index SXFc1 were up 0.03 percent at 6:55 a.m. ET.
Housing starts data is due at 8:15 a.m. ET
Toronto Stock Exchange S&P/TSX composite index .GSPTSE unofficially closes down 33.18 points, or 0.21 percent, at 16,057.09 on Monday. Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures 1YMc1 were down 0.36 percent at 7:05 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures ESc1 were down 0.23 percent and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures NQc1 were down 0.22 percent. .N
TOP STORIES TOP/CAN
Hudson's Bay Company HBC.TO and Signa Holding have agreed to merge Germany's two major department store chains, Galeria Kaufhof and Karstadt as they seek to respond to fierce competition from e-commerce players. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS RCH/CA
Altagas Ltd ALA.TO : CIBC cuts price target to C$30 from C$32
Element Fleet Management Corp EFN.TO : CIBC raises to outperformer from neutral
Empire Company Ltd EMPa.TO : Barclays (LON:BARC) raises target price to C$31 from C$30
COMMODITIES AT 7:05 a.m. ET COM/WRAP
Gold futures GCc2 : $1,194.1; fell 0.03 pct GOL/
US crude CLc1 : $67.85; rose 0.46 pct O/R
Brent crude LCOc1 : $78.01; rose 0.87 pct O/R
U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON TUESDAY
1000 JOLTS job openings for Jul: Prior 6.662 mln
1000 Wholesale inventory, R mm for Jul: Expected 0.7 pct; Prior 0.7 pct
1000 Wholesale sales mm for Jul: Expected 0.3 pct; Prior -0.1 pct
FOR CANADIAN MARKETS NEWS, CLICK ON CODES:
TSX market report .TO
Canadian dollar and bonds report CAD/ CA/
Reuters global stocks poll for Canada EQUITYPOLL1 EPOLL/CA
Canadian markets directory CANADA ($1= C$1.32)