TSX opens lower

CANADA STOCKS-TSX may open lower as commodity prices dip

08:49 EDT Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Oct 12 (Reuters) - Toronto's resource-heavy main stock index looked set to open lower on Tuesday as a rebound in the U.S. dollar against a basket of currencies helped to send many commodity prices lower.

FACTORS TO WATCH

* Canadian equity futures > pointed to a lower open.

* U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open before Federal Reserve minutes that should give clues on the timing and size of more stimulus. [.N]

* Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty on Tuesday will release a fall fiscal update that will show the government is still on track to balance the budget in the medium term, a government official said. [ID:nN11128512]

* European shares fell, tracking a decline in Tokyo, and with miners lower as the price of copper and other metals slipped, after a strong run. [.EU]

* Asian markets were also lower with indices consolidating after recent gains, while Shanghai bucked the trend to close up 1.2 percent, it's highest in five month.

COMMODITY PRICE MOVES

* The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index <.CRB>, a global commodities benchmark, fell 0.2 percent in early trade.

* Oil prices slipped for a second day, falling towards $81 a barrel after Saudi Arabia signaled OPEC would maintain current production levels at the group's meeting and as the dollar rallied against the euro. [O/R]

* Gold eased in Europe on Tuesday as the dollar rebounded on the back of uncertainty over the extent of quantitative easing expected from U.S. authorities, denting interest in the metal as a haven from weak currencies. [GOL/]

* Copper fell with other base metals also under pressure, as a recovering dollar capped recent bullish momentum ahead of fresh insight into the U.S. central bank's thinking on further monetary easing. [MET/L]

CANADIAN STOCKS TO WATCH

* Research In Motion : The maker of the BlackBerry smartphone had been given a new deadline of Jan. 31 by the Indian government for a final solution to get access to all its services, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. [ID:nBMA008590]

* CIC Energy Corp. : Sajjan Jindal-controlled JSW Group, which runs JSW Steel, has emerged as the front-runner in the race for a controlling stake in the resources firm CIC Energy, the Economic Times reported on Tuesday. The deal could be valued at $450 million to $500 million, the newspaper said. [ID:nSGE69B04X]

* Potash Corp. : China's Sinochem has approached Indian state-run miner NMDC Ltd for a joint bid to buy Potash, the Economic Times reported on Monday. NMDC Chairman Rana Som, however, denied the company was planning a joint bid with Sinochem for Potash, the paper said. [ID:nSGE69A035]

- Meanwhile Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan is plotting a bid to spoil BHP Billiton's $39 billion hostile offer for Potash, British newspaper The Sunday Times said on Sunday. [ID:nSGE69903N]

* Talisman : Norwegian oil firm Statoil is expanding further its shale gas operations in the United States, saying on Sunday it had created a joint venture with Talisman to acquire acreage on the Eagle Ford prospect in Texas for $1.325 billion. [ID:nLDE6990C3]

* Centerra Gold : The gold miner said on Monday that workers at its flagship gold mine in Kyrgyzstan ended their 10-day long strike on Sunday evening, and the company reaffirmed its production outlook for the operation. [ID:nSGE69A168]

* Enbridge Inc. : The pipeline company's crude oil pipeline 6A would run at 80 percent of its 670,000 bpd capacity while maintenance on parts of the line is under way, said a company spokesman. The key crude line transporting Canadian oil to refineries in the U.S. Midwest was shut down on Friday as the company put a sleeve around a section of pipeline. [ID:nN11108666]

* Teck Resources Ltd : The diversified miner said on Monday its copper mine output would rise to more than 400,000 tonnes in 2012 and could more than double in five to six years based on its new projects. [ID:nLDE69A1XZ]

- Separately the company said on Friday it was trying to determine how much mercury has spilled from its Trail, British Columbia, lead smelter into the Columbia River near the border of Washington state. [ID:nN08271872]

ANALYST RECOMMENDATIONS

Following is a summary of research actions on Canadian companies reported by Reuters. [RCH/CA]

* Asia Bio Chem Group coverage started with outperform rating and C$1.75 target price at Raymond James

* Bird Construction Income Fund rating cut to outperform from strong buy at Raymond James

($1=$1.01 Canadian) (Reporting by Bangalore Newsroom; editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)

Bankers Pet : BNK: Time To Buy?

Bankers Petroleum target price C$18 ...rating strong buy at Raymond James

Raymond James Is The big buyer today

* DragonWave target price raised to C$5.75 from C$4.75; rating underperform at Raymond James

* Kiska Metals coverage started with outperform rating; target price of C$1.70 at Raymond James

* Precision Drilling Corp. target price raised to C$9.25 from C$8.25; rating outperform at Raymond James

($1=$1.02 Canadian) (Reporting by Bangalore newsroom; editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)

©2010 CTVglobemedia Publishing Inc. All rights reserved.

House Positions for C:BNK from 20101012 to 20101012 House Bought $Val Ave Sold $Val Ave Net $Net 89 Raymond James 191,550 1,305,073 6.813 100,000 682,000 6.82 91,550 -623,073 74 GMP 322,700 2,198,833 6.814 233,300 1,590,440 6.817 89,400 -608,393 39 Merrill Lynch 60,750 413,860 6.813 14,600 99,746 6.832 46,150 -314,114 111 Fraser Mackenzie 25,000 170,507 6.82 0 25,000 -170,507 13 Instinet 28,700 196,001 6.829 3,800 25,954 6.83 24,900 -170,047 80 National Bank 30,900 210,234 6.804 20,400 139,050 6.816 10,500 -71,184 124 Questrade 9,100 61,773 6.788 1,000 6,800 6.80 8,100 -54,973 1 Anonymous 208,100 1,414,690 6.798 204,200 1,390,368 6.809 3,900 -24,322 19 Desjardins 4,250 28,827 6.783 500 3,385 6.77 3,750 -25,442 81 HSBC 600 4,068 6.78 0 600 -4,068 57 Interactive 50 338 6.76 0 50 -338 60 MF Global Can 1,200 8,180 6.817 1,200 8,168 6.807 0 -12 46 Macquarie 0 600 4,098 6.83 -600 4,098 15 UBS 126,300 861,379 6.82 126,900 865,477 6.82 -600 4,098 33 Canaccord 0 1,000 6,830 6.83 -1,000 6,830 9 BMO Nesbitt 28,900 196,830 6.811 30,050 205,021 6.823 -1,150 8,191 52 NCP 23,993 163,112 6.798 25,210 171,639 6.808 -1,217 8,527 85 Scotia 3,900 26,541 6.805 5,150 34,963 6.789 -1,250 8,422 14 ITG 3,700 25,143 6.795 8,100 55,259 6.822 -4,400 30,116 12 Wellington 0 5,000 33,990 6.798 -5,000 33,990 101 Newedge 1,100 7,469 6.79 6,100 41,646 6.827 -5,000 34,177 5 Penson 18,300 124,530 6.805 23,500 159,950 6.806 -5,200 35,420 123 Citigroup 600 4,084 6.807 8,300 56,256 6.778 -7,700 52,172 72 Credit Suisse 0 9,200 62,605 6.805 -9,200 62,605 99 Jitney 12,100 82,212 6.794 24,000 163,007 6.792 -11,900 80,795 7 TD Sec 154,050 1,048,193 6.804 166,488 1,132,576 6.803 -12,438 84,383 10 FirstEnergy 95,950 654,379 6.82 119,650 816,013 6.82 -23,700 161,634 11 MacQuarie 0 27,200 185,333 6.814 -27,200 185,333 65 Goldman 0 34,000 231,224 6.801 -34,000 231,224 79 CIBC 36,200 246,623 6.813 82,200 559,820 6.81 -46,000 313,197 24 Clarus 0 50,000 339,000 6.78 -50,000 339,000 2 RBC 11,860 80,728 6.807 68,205 462,989 6.788 -56,345 382,261 TOTAL 1,399,853 9,533,607 6.81 1,399,853 9,533,607 6.81 0 0

VOLUME LEADERS

Symbol Name Last Trade Change Volume Related Info ELR.TO EASTERN PLATINUM LIMITED 1.49 9:57AM EST 0.02 (1.32%) 2,411,566 Reports, More HNU.TO HORIZONS BETA PRO NYMEX NAT GAS 3.13 9:56AM EST 0.13 (3.99%) 1,716,969 More UUU.TO URANIUM ONE INC. 3.68 9:58AM EST 0.04 (1.10%) 1,363,633 Reports, More CLM.TO CONS. THOMPSON IRON MINES LTD. 9.00 9:58AM EST 0.19 (2.07%) 1,014,476 Reports, More BNK.TO BANKERS PETROLEUM LTD. 6.82 9:57AM EST 0.07 (1.02%) 896,648 Reports, More MFC.TO MANULIFE FIN 12.49 9:58AM EST 0.08 (0.64%) 857,135 Reports, More WTN.TO WESTERN COAL CORP 6.73 9:58AM EST 0.07 (1.03%) 827,040 Reports, More BAJ.TO BAJA MINING CORP. 1.35 9:57AM EST 0.00 (0.00%) 815,967 Reports, More TCK-B.TO Teck Resources Limited 44.02 9:58AM EST 0.99 (2.20%) 698,632 Reports, More K.TO KINROSS GOLD CORP. 19.07 9:58AM EST 0.18 (0.94%) 637,163 Reports, More VT.TO VITERRA INC. 9.73 9:58AM EST 0.28 (2.96%) 625,578 Reports, More YRI.TO YAMANA GOLD INC 11.61 9:58AM EST 0.10 (0.85%) 599,648 Reports, More FIU.TO FIRST URANIUM CORPORATION 0.80 9:57AM EST 0.01 (1.27%) 591,100 Reports, More GBG.TO GREAT BASIN GOLD LTD. 2.64 9:58AM EST 0.07 (2.72%) 582,065 Reports, More SU.TO SUNCOR ENERGY INC. 34.70 9:58AM EST 0.34 (0.97%) 529,856 Reports, More AND.TO ANDEAN RESOURCES LIMITED 6.20 9:58AM EST 0.10 (1.59%) 527,109 Reports, More QEC.TO QUESTERRE ENERGY CORP 1.94 9:55AM EST 0.15 (8.38%) 505,819 Reports, More HOU.TO HORIZON BETAPRO NYMEX CRDE OIL 6.65 9:57AM EST 0.24 (3.48%) 486,197 More XIU.TO iSHARES SP TSX 60 INDEX FUND 18.16 9:58AM EST 0.02 (0.11%) 465,418 More CGC.TO CAPITAL GOLD CORP 4.64 9:58AM EST 0.05 (1.07%) 461,751 Reports, More SAC.TO SOUTH AMERICAN SILVER CORP. 1.05 9:58AM EST 0.05 (5.00%) 433,850 Reports, More AC-B.TO AIR CANADA, CL.B 3.24 9:58AM EST 0.05 (1.57%) 433,203 Reports, More CNQ.TO CDN NATURAL RES 37.58 9:58AM EST 0.39 (1.03%) 432,950 Reports, More RIM.TO RESEARCH IN MOTION LIMITED 49.75 9:58AM EST 0.23 (0.46%) 431,115 Reports, More HOD.TO HORIZON BETA PRO NYMEX CRDE OIL 9.28 9:58AM EST 0.30 (3.34%) 409,935 Reports, More