Equities
Global markets were mixed in cautious trading as investors assessed prospects of a U.S.-Iran peace deal and progress toward reopening the Strait of Hormuz, while also taking in a slew of corporate earnings reports.
Wall Street futures were also mixed, with the Nasdaq in the red amid renewed tech jitters.
TSX futures were muted after Canada’s main stock market closed at a fresh record high yesterday.
In Canada, investors are getting results from BCE Inc., AtkinsRéalis Group Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., Sun Life Financial Inc., Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., Restaurant Brands International Inc., Iamgold Corp., and Saputo Inc.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from ConocoPhillips, Airbnb Inc., Cloudflare Inc., Warner Bros. Discovery, Inc. and Open Text Corp.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.36 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.15 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.22 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.55 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.93 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.49 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices climbed as investors remained cautious on the outcome of Iran-Oman talks and whether they will restore flows through the Strait of Hormuz, while reports of attacks on Saudi tankers in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden renewed supply tensions.
Brent crude futures gained 1.08 per cent to US$80.31 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures edged up 0.86 per cent to trade at US$75.87 a barrel.
“Traders still remember the short-lived memorandum of understanding signed in June, so there is understandable anxiety that any new deal could prove equally fragile,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.6 per cent at US$4,271.33 an ounce. Yesterday, bullion posted its biggest daily gain since February. U.S. gold futures rose 0.6 per cent to US$4,333.20.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.32 US cents to 71.48 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.07 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 99.80. The dollar was pegged at $1.4019.
The euro slid 0.11 per cent to US$1.1542. The British pound was little changed at US$1.3470.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.646 per cent.
Economic news
China’s foreign reserves
Euro zone’s retail sales
Germany’s factory orders
5:00 a.m. ET: TRREB home sales and prices for July. As Rachelle Younglai reports, Toronto home sales and prices climbed last month, a sign that the country’s largest real estate market could be on its way back up.
6 a.m. ET: U.S. Conference Board CEO Confidence Index for Q3.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Aug. 1. Estimate is 202,000, up 5,000 from the previous week.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. productivity and labor unit costs for Q2 (preliminary reading). The Street is projecting annualized rate rises of 0.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively.
9:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s S&P global services PMI for July.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. wholesale inventories for June.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for July.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press
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