TSX May Attempt To Snap Losing Streak - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - After moving lower in the past three sessions, Canadian stocks may attempt to move higher at open Tuesday on value buying as traders await fresh cues from the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting that gets underway tonight.

Elsewhere, Asian markets settled mixed overnight as investors remained wary of taking aggressive positions ahead of a two-day policy meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve. Meanwhile, the major European markets were moving higher, snapping a three-day losing streak, as investors digested encouraging earnings results from companies such as Siemens AG and Software AG and

U.S. stock futures were pointing to a higher open.

On Monday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index extended losses for a third session dipping 135.48 points or 0.99 percent to 13,582.29.

The price of crude oil was moving higher Tuesday morning as traders await crude oil inventories report amid speculation that inventories will dip as consumers burn heating oil during the ongoing coldest northern hemisphere winter. Crude for March added $0.53 to $96.25 a barrel.

The price of gold was moving lower Tuesday morning, with risk-aversion supporting prices from steep fall. Gold for February shed $8.90 to $1,254.50 an ounce.

In corporate news from Canada, First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) announced that it has signed a mandate letter for a $2.5 billion, five-Year term loan and revolving facility with lead arrangers and underwriters, Standard Chartered Bank and BNP Paribas.

Real estate investment trust Brookfield Canada Office Properties (BOX_UN.TO) reported fourth-quarter net income of C$14.1 million or C$0.54 per unit compared to C$46.4 million or C$1.78 per unit last year.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) said it would, through its subsidiary BMO Global Asset Management (Europe) Limited, acquire F&C Asset Management plc (FCAM.L) for about C$1.3 billion. F&C shareholders will be entitled to receive 120 pence in cash for each F&C share held.

In economic news from the U.S, the Commerce Department said durable goods orders tumbled by 4.3 percent in December following a revised 2.6 percent increase in November. The drop in orders came as a surprise to economists, who had expected orders to increase by about 1.8 percent compared to the 3.4 percent growth that had been reported for the previous month.

From the euro zone, Germany's import prices decreased for the twelfth successive month in December, but at a weaker rate than in the previous month, data released by the Federal Statistical Office revealed. The import price index dropped 2.3 percent in December from the corresponding month of 2012. This followed a 2.9 percent fall in November. Prices have now fallen regularly since December 2012. Economists had forecast a slower decline of 2.2 percent for December 2013.

Elsewhere, the U.K. economy expanded as expected by economists in the fourth quarter, but the rate of expansion slowed marginally, preliminary estimate from the Office for National Statistics showed. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent from the prior quarter, when it grew 0.8 percent. The fourth quarter rate matched economists' expectations.