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Futures up Slightly Tuesday

Futures for stocks north of the border rose on Tuesday, helped by higher crude prices, as investors eye this week's U.S. Federal Reserve meeting for cues on the tapering of its monetary policy.

The TSX Composite index rose 19.30 points Monday to 20,157.65.

The Canadian dollar descended 0.33 cents to 82.02 cents U.S.

June futures were up 0.2% Tuesday.

U.S. and Canadian officials are set to meet Tuesday to discuss how to eventually lift pandemic-related border restrictions between the two countries, but no immediate action is reportedly expected.

National Bank of Canada raised the target price on Bank of Montreal to $139 from $136

CIBC raises target price on Finning International to $44.00 from $41.00

ATB Capital Markets cut the rating on Hexo Corp to "underperform" from "sector perform".

On the economic slate, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) says the trend in housing starts was 280,779 units in May, up slightly from 278,462 units in April 2021.

CMHC says this trend measure is a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates (SAAR) of housing starts.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 1.91 points Monday to 977.79.

ON WALLSTREET

U.S. stock futures were flat on Tuesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s latest monetary policy meeting. The pause comes a day after the NASDAQ Composite and S&P 500 registered new record highs

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials inched ahead two points to 34,277.

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Futures for the S&P 500 eked up four points, or 0.1%, to 4,249.50.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite took on 17.25 points, or 0.1%, to 13,971.

There were very few standout pre-market performers. Some reopening plays, such as Boeing and cruise lines, traded slightly higher early Tuesday.

Bitcoin rose to $40,000 on Monday after Tesla CEO Elon Musk said Sunday that the company will resume bitcoin transactions once it confirms there is reasonable clean energy usage by miners.

The Fed kicks off its two-day meeting on Tuesday, and officials faced with ongoing tension between their two main goals, as inflation rises faster than expected even with millions of Americans still unemployed more than a year after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

Investors will also be watching for another inflation gauge released on Tuesday. The Producer Price Index — which measure the prices paid to producers as opposed to prices on the consumer level — is expected to rise 0.5% in May, according to Dow Jones estimates. The core PPI — which excludes volatile items like foods, energy and trade services — is estimated to increase 0.4%.

May’s retail sales data are also slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET. Economists polled by Dow Jones are expecting a drop of 0.7% for last month. Excluding autos, economists expect May’s retail sales rose 0.5%, economists expect. Retail sales in April were unchanged as the boost from stimulus checks faded.

Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 popped 1%, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index reversed 0.7%.

Oil prices gained 97 cents to $71.85 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices gained 90 cents to $1,866.80 U.S.