Wall Street stock futures dropped Wednesday as investors focused on the deteriorating U.S. economy that a Barack Obama presidency will inherit.

With the election settled, markets will shift their attention to incoming economic and earnings reports.

A report issued this morning showed that U.S. employment fell by 157,000 private sector jobs in October. That’s the largest decrease in private sector employment since November 2002.

The ADP National Employment Report is based on actual payroll data and measures the change in total nonfarm private employment each month.

The latest ISM report on the U.S. service industry is due shortly after trading opens.

Here at home, the Canadian dollar opened at US87.03¢, up 0.16 cent after gaining 2.19¢ Tuesday.

In today’s earnings, Time Warner reported flat third-quarter results.

Agrium Inc. reported third-quarter net earnings of US$367 million, more than seven times the US$51 million the fertilizer and farm inputs company earned in the year-ago period.

Enbridge Inc. said third-quarter profit increased 90% over a year ago for, as revenue rose 66% to $4.37 billion from $2.63 billion.

Pengrowth Energy Trust reported third-quarter earnings of $422.4 million, powered by pre-tax gains of $476 million on mark-to-market commodity hedging, while oil production declined 5%.

Tech-sector bellwether Cisco Systems will report earnings after Wednesday’s close.

In commodities news, oil futures tumbled US$2.96 to US$67.57 a barrel ahead of U.S. weekly energy inventory data due out later this morning.

Gold futures fell US$1.80 to US$755.50 an ounce.

Overseas, European stocks snapped a recent winning streak, with the FTSE 100 fell down 1.8% early in the afternoon in London. Germany’s DAX index declined 1.1% and the French CAC-40 fell 2.5%.

Asian indexes posted strong gains in the aftermath of Tuesday’s rally in North America, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 rising 4.5%.

In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index rose 3.2%.

North American markets rallied hard on Tuesday as investors in Canada and the United States bid up stocks ahead of the results of the U.S. election.

In Toronto, the S&P/TSX composite index jumped 395.32 points, 4.07%, to end Tuesday at 10,116.58.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index jumped 39.68 points, or 4.24%, to end at 975.27.

In New York, U.S. stocks rose in the biggest election day rally ever.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 305.45 points, or 3.28%, to 9,625.28. The S&P 500 jumped 39.45 points, or 4.08%, to 1,005.75. The Nasdaq composite index gained 53.79 points, or 3.12%, to 1,780.12.

The rally pushed the S&P 500 above the 1,000 mark for the first time since Oct. 13.

IE