Wall Street stock futures rose Wednesday after an upbeat outlook from tech bellwether Intel.

The semiconductor company reported quarterly sales and profit margins that were stronger than expected after Tuesday’s close, and issued an upbeat forecast. Intel posted a quarterly loss due to an antitrust fine.

On the U.S. economics calendar, are reports onJune consumer prices, capacity utilization and industrial production.

Minutes from the last Federal Reserve interest-rate setting committee are also expected at 14:00 ET.

Here at home, manufacturing sales fell 6.0% in May, Statistics Canada reported Wednesday.

Plant shutdowns in the motor vehicle and primary metal industries, along with continued volatility in the aerospace industry, accounted for most of the decline in May.

The Canadian dollar gained 0.97 of a cent to US89¢ after jumping 1.21¢ on Tuesday.

In commodities news, the August crude contract in New York was up 98¢ to US$60.50 a barrel, ahead of Wednesday’s weekly U.S. inventory data.

In today’s earnings news, Corus Entertainment Inc. said a $175-million impairment charge pushed the company to a loss of $145 million for the third quarter. The loss reverses year-earlier profits of $37.7 million.

Quarterly revenue fell 6% to $195.4 million compared to $207.8 million booked the year before.

Overseas, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 stock average rose 7.44 points, or 0.1%, to 9,269.25.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 372.93, or 2.1%, to 18,258.66.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 rose 1.75%, Frankfurt’s DAX climbed 2% while the Paris CAC 40 gained 1.8%.

Strength in bank stocks pulled the benchmark index of the Toronto Stock Exchange higher for a second day on Tuesday, after major American bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. reported second-quarter earnings that far exceeded expectations.

The S&P/TSX composite index rose 94.22 points, or 1%, to close at 9,986.15.

The financials group gained 2% after Goldman Sachs reported net income of US$3.44 billion in the second quarter ended June 26.

Junior stocks also advanced, sending the S&P/TSX Venture composite index up 7.76 points, or 0.7%, to 1,055.39.

Stocks in the United States finished in positive territory, but failed to register significant gains despite Goldman Sachs’ strong earnings and news that retail sales rose in June.

The Dow Jones industrial average gained 27.81 points, or 0.3%, to end at 8,359.49.

The S&P 500 index rose 4.79 points, or 0.5%, to end at 905.84.

The Nasdaq composite index gained 6.52 points, or 0.4%, to 1,799.73.

IE