(Reuters) ? Canadian stocks looked set to open higher on Wednesday, with natural resource shares helped by rising commodity prices, though investors were on guard ahead of the crucial European Union debt summit.
Investors will also closely watch the Bank of Canada's Monetary Policy Report after the central bank said on Tuesday, the outlook for Canadian economy had weakened, citing European debt crisis and slowing growth in its top trade partner, United States.
FACTORS TO WATCH
* Canadian equity futures pointed to a higher open.
* U.S. stock index futures rose after the S&P fell 2 percent in the previous session as optimism about corporate earnings offset concerns about the results of a meeting of European leaders to tackle the region's debt crisis.
* European shares edged higher in thin, choppy trade ahead of a meeting of regional leaders to try and resolve the two-year-old euro-zone debt crisis.
* Asian shares declined ahead of a key meeting of European policymakers later in the session, with concerns heightening that the outcome to contain Europe's sovereign debt crisis could fall short of expectations.
COMMODITY PRICE MOVES
* The Thomson Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global commodities benchmark, rose 0.48 percent in early trade.
* Brent crude futures eased, giving up earlier gains, due to worries that Europe may fail to deliver a firm solution to its sovereign debt crisis.
* Gold hit one-month highs in its longest stretch of gains in over two months as investors sought the safety of bullion in the face of an uncertain outcome to a key EU summit and after a surprisingly poor read of U.S. consumer confidence.
* Copper rose ahead of a European Union summit, but looked vulnerable if markets are disappointed by lack of progress in tackling the euro zone debt crisis.
CANADIAN STOCKS TO WATCH
* Research in Motion: The BlackBerry maker said the software upgrade for its PlayBook tablet has been delayed to February next year. The tablet will ship without the Blackberry messenger software, the company said in a blog post on its website.
* Canadian National Railway Co.: The railroad company reported a 19 percent rise in third-quarter profit on Tuesday thanks to record carloadings and revenues, strong operational execution and cost controls.
* Rogers Communications: The wireless company posted a slightly higher third-quarter adjusted profit, helped mainly by strength in its wireless unit.
* Air Canada: The airline agreed to withdraw its appeal against an arbitrator's ruling on pensions for new hires at the airline after the union representing its check-in and call-center staff threatened job action.
* Capital Power Corp.: The North American independent power producer posted a narrower quarterly loss, helped by higher spot power prices in Alberta and better performance of its plants.
* MEG Energy Corp.: The oil sands developer swung to a loss, hurt mainly by unfavorable foreign exchange and higher planned maintenance costs.
* Pacific Rubiales: The oil firm threatened to suspend operations at its Campo Rubiales oil fields if the Colombian government fails improve protection from illegal armed groups and violent protests.
* Imax Corp.: The giant movie screen maker expects the number of screens in China to rise to 200 in two to three years, up from 85 at the end of 2011, CEO Richard Gelfond said.
* Aecon Group Inc.: The construction company said its mining division secured a C$80 million contract for work at a new potash mine in Saskatchewan.
* Claude Resources: The precious metals miner said it has increased its offer for the rest of St. Eugene Mining Corp in a stock deal that now values the smaller gold exploration company at C$19 million.
* Progressive Waste Solutions: The waste manager's third-quarter profit missed market estimates and the company expects lower pricing at its collection operations in the northeastern parts of United States to continue for the rest of the year.
($1= $1.01 Canadian)
(Reporting by Rahul Karunakar; Editing by Jeffrey Hodgson)
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