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Futures Down Wednesday

Futures tracking Canada's commodity-heavy main stock index edged lower on Wednesday as oil prices hovered at six-month lows on recession concerns, while investors awaited the minutes of the U.S. Federal Reserve's July policy meet.

The TSX gained 89.37 points to end Tuesday at 20,269.97.

September futures for the TSX slid 0.4% on Wednesday.

The Canadian dollar fell back 0.38 cents to 77.46 cents U.S.

National Bank of Canada raised the price target on Alimentation Couche-Tard to $63.00 from $59.00

National Bank also cut the rating on Trevali Mining underperform from sector perform

On the economic front, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Wednesday the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of housing starts was 275,329 units, an increase of 1.1% from June.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange faded 8.93 points Tuesday to 669.57.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures fell on Wednesday as a rally that has propelled equity prices higher since mid-June appeared poised for a respite.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials plummeted 212 points, or 0.6%, early Wednesday to 33,906.

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Futures for the S&P 500 fell 35 points, or 0.8%, to 4,272.75

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite dipped 128 points, or 0.9% at 13,530.25.

The Dow notched its fifth straight day of gains Tuesday. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 is going for its fifth positive week in a row as investors continue to gauge how much strength this rally has. The broad market index is now up 18% from its June lows.

Traders on Wednesday were looking ahead to the release of U.S. retail sales data later in the morning. In the afternoon, the Federal Reserve is slated to release the minutes from its most recent meeting.

Additionally, Wall Street has been poring through corporate earnings from the retail sector. Walmart and Home Depot reported Tuesday, while Lowe’s and Target posted earnings Wednesday morning.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index gained 1.2%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index increased 0.5%,

Oil prices lost 15 cents to $86.38 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices sank six dollars to $1,783.70 U.S. an ounce.