Futures trade in the green as spot gold rises

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Canada's main stock index futures edged higher on Wednesday, supported by spot gold, as the coronavirus scare triggered flows towards the safe-haven metal.

Spot gold rose 0.5% to $1,644.30 per ounce by 1217 GMT.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Tuesday alerted Americans to begin preparing for the spread of coronavirus in the United States after infections surfaced in several more countries. March futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.23% at 7:00 a.m. ET.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's TSX closed down 2.19% to 17,177.37 on Tuesday.

Dow Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures were down 0.14% at 7:00 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures were up 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures were up 0.04%.

TOP STORIES

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reported better-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday, helped by gains in its capital markets business and as it set aside lesser money to cover bad loans.

ANALYST RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS

Bank of Montreal: RBC cuts to sector perform from outperform

George Weston Ltd: CIBC raises target price to C$126 from C$121

Secure Energy Services Inc: CIBC cuts to neutral from outperformer

COMMODITIES AT 7:00 a.m. ET

Gold futures: $1646.7; -0.02%

US crude: $49.17; -1.46%

Brent crude: $53.76; -2.17%

U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON WEDNESDAY

0800 Build permits R number for Jan: Prior 1.551 mln

0800 Build permits R change mm for Jan: Prior 9.2%

1000 New home sales-units for Jan: Expected 0.710 mln; Prior 0.694 mln

1000 New home sales change mm for Jan: Expected 3.5%; Prior -0.4%

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($1= C$1.33)