TSX Poised For Steady Open - Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are poised for a steady open Monday even as commodities struggle to move higher after a gauge of China's services industries fell in the month of December.

Asian stocks fell broadly overnight, with Japanese shares bearing the brunt of the selling as investors played catch-up with the global sell-off during Japan's long holiday break. Meanwhile, the European markets are moving lower amid cautious trade after weak cues from Asia.

A gauge of China's services industries fell to 50.9 last month from 52.5 in November, the latest data from HSBC and Markit economics showed, adding to signs of slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. The data comes close on heels of a report by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Friday, which showed service-sector growth slowing to a four-month low.

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

On Friday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index extended losses for a second session, dipping 45.33 points or 0.33 percent to 13,548.86.

The price of crude oil was ticking higher Monday morning, with traders awaiting fresh triggers, after leveling off from its 2-month high in the previous week. Crude for February added $0.37 to $94.33 a barrel.

The price of gold was little changed Monday morning, with the US dollar trading steady versus a basket of currencies ahead of this week's macroeconomic data out the world's largest economy Gold for February edged up $1.50 to $1,240.10 an ounce.

In corporate news from Canada, WestJet (WJA.TO) said its December 2013 traffic grew 7.2 percent year-on-year, with capacity rising 7.4 percent, while load factor slid by 0.2 percentage points over the prior year. Monthly traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles or RPMs, totaled 1.76 billion, up 7.2 percent from 1.64 billion in December 2012. Capacity, measured in available seat miles, improved to 2.155 billion in December 2013, from 2.006 billion, a year ago.

Wireless broadband communications service provider TeraGo Inc. (TGO.TO) announced that it has appointed Stewart Lyons, 40, President and CEO of the company and a member of the Board of Directors effective January 6, 2014.

In economic news, Statistics Canada said the Industrial Product Price Index edged up 0.1 percent in November, mainly because of higher prices for motorized and recreational vehicles. Meanwhile, the Raw Materials Price Index fell 4.1 percent, led by crude energy products.

From the euro zone, German private sector growth slowed more than estimated initially in December, detailed results of a survey by Markit Economics showed. The headline composite output index, that measures combined performance of the country's manufacturing and services industries, fell to 55 in December from 55.4 in November.

Germany's EU harmonized inflation weakened more-than-expected in December, latest data revealed. The harmonized index of consumer prices increased 1.2 percent in December from the corresponding month of last year, following a 1.6 percent gain in November. Economists had forecast a 1.4 percent growth for December.

Euro zone investor confidence improved sharply in January to the highest since April 2011, a monthly survey by the think tank Sentix showed. The sentiment index rose by 3.9 points to 11.9 in January. In Germany, investor sentiment rose to 32.4 in January from 32.1 a month ago.

Meanwhile, euro zone's private sector growth accelerated as estimated in December, supported by strong performance by the manufacturing sector, final data released by Markit Economics revealed. The seasonally adjusted composite output index, which measures performance of manufacturing and service sectors, rose to a three-month high of 52.1 in December from 51.7 in November. The outcome matched the flash estimates