Wall Street stock futures slipped Tuesday amid renewed worries about the health of the financial sector. Here at home, investors are preparing for an expected interest rate cut from the Bank of Canada.

Economists see the central bank cutting its key overnight lending rate by half a percentage point, which would reduce it to 1%.

In this morning’s economic news, manufacturing sales declined for a fourth consecutive month in November, reflecting both volume and price decreases, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.

Sales fell 6.4% to $48.4 billion, the lowest level since December 2004.

At the industry level, sales in 12 of 21 manufacturing industries decreased in November, accounting for over four-fifths of total sales. The most significant price decreases were in the petroleum and coal industry, down 18.5%) and primary metal industry, down 6%, StatsCan said.

The Canadian dollar opened at US79.01¢ Tuesday, down 0.69 of a cent from Monday’s close.

In today’s earnings news, TD Bank Financial Group said that it
expects TD Ameritrade’s first quarter earnings to translate into a contribution of $77 million to first quarter net income for its wealth management segment.

TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. said its earnings dropped 23% in the latest quarter, but the online broker lowered its 2009 earnings forecast because of a tough economic outlook.

Ameritrade earned US$184.4 million in its fiscal first quarter, down from $240.8 million, in the same period a year earlier. Revenue fell 5% to US$610.7 million.

In today’s M&A news, Fiat and Chrysler said Tuesday they have signed a nonbinding agreement for a strategic alliance that would give the Italian auto empire a 35% stake in the troubled U.S. carmaker.

The two companies said in a joint statement they would share technologies and vehicle platforms. Under the proposed alliance, Fiat would not invest cash in Chrysler but would provide access to its successful small-car platforms, as well as to its more environmentally friendly and fuel-efficient engines.

In commodities news, the front-month oil contract fell US$2.11 to US$34.40 a barrel in pre-market trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei stock average fell 2.3%.

In afternoon trading, Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.1%, Germany’s DAX index rose 0.1%, and France’s CAC-40 fell 0.1%.

Dismal economic news from Europe put Canadian investors into a nervous mood Monday, dragging the Toronto Stock Exchange lower for the day.

The S&P/TSX composite index slipped 78.92 points, or 0.9%, to finish at 8,841.48.

The dip followed news from across the ocean that the Royal Bank of Scotland may post a loss of as much as 28 billion pounds this year, driving concerns that the British government may have to take full control of the bank.

Further shaking investor nerves was news that the European Commission sharply cut its 2009 outlook for the region to a 1.9% contraction in GDP, down from previously forecast growth of 0.1%.

The S&P/TSX Venture composite index bucked the trend on Monday, rising 7.3 points, or 0.8%, to close at 872.95.

U.S. markets were closed on Monday for the Martin Luther King national holiday.

IE