U.S. stock futures moved higher Wednesday morning, suggesting markets would build on yesterday’s rally.

North American stock markets surged ahead on Tuesday, bolstered by promising news from the U.S. financial sector.

Financial stocks surged as investors reacted positively to comments from Citigroup Inc. CEO Vikram Pandit, who said the bank was profitable in the first two months of 2009, setting the stage for the company’s best quarter since 2007.

In Wednesday’s commodities news, light, sweet crude fell 65¢ to US$45.06 a barrel in electronic premarket trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, ahead of U.S. weekly energy inventory data.

In earnings news, declining housing starts will cut home builders’ profits by almost 20% this year, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

Transat A.T. reported a deeper net loss, due to lower margins on tour packages sold in Canada to southern destinations. The net loss for the quarter ended Jan. 31 was $29.4 million, or 90¢ a share, compared with a net loss of $7.9 million, or 23¢ a share in the year earlier period. The transportation and tourism company also suspended its quarterly dividend to conserve cash.

Gold futures climbed above US$900 an ounce.

Markets in Asia rallied after the big surge on Wall Street.

Japan’s Nikkei stock average jumped 4.6% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 2%.

In Europe, Britain’s FTSE 100 was up 0.1%, Germany’s DAX index was up 1.6%, and France’s CAC-40 was up 1.4%.


On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX composite index surged 313.47 points, or 4.1%, to close at 7,880.41.

Junior companies on the S&P/TSX Venture composite index added 4.36 points, or 0.5%, to close at 818.55.

In New York, Tuesday’s gains marked the biggest rally yet this year.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 379.44 points, or 5.8%, to finish at 6,926.49, its largest gain since November.

The S&P 500 index gained 43.07 points, or 6.4%, to 719.60.

The Nasdaq composite index climbed 89.64 points, or 7.1%, to end at 1,358.28.

IE