Equities
Global markets were mostly higher as sentiment was bolstered by upbeat comments on the U.S. economy from Federal Reserve chief Jerome Powell.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened subdued following record high closes yesterday, as investors awaited employment data later this week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.05 per cent to 45,038.44, the S&P 500 gained 0.04 per cent to 6,089.03, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.11 per cent to 19,756.4 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.17 per cent lower at 25,598.45, pulled lower by financial shares.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Bank of Montreal, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, Toronto-Dominion Bank and Lululemon Athletica Inc.
Bank of Montreal’s fourth-quarter profit rose but missed analysts’ estimates by a wide margin as the lender boosted provisions for loans that could default.
CIBC has reported higher fourth-quarter profit, driven by stronger profit margins on loans and lower provisions against defaults in its Canadian and U.S. retail banking businesses.
Both banks also increased their dividends, as RBC and National Bank did a day earlier in announcing fourth-quarter earnings.
TD Bank has reported a fall in fourth-quarter profit, hurt by weakness in its U.S. business due to the impact of anti-money laundering issues.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Dollar General Corp., Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co. and Kroger Co.
“There is a risk to the [market] euphoria,” said François Savary, chief investment officer at Genvil Wealth Management.
“Everything is going the right way, right now, but wait for January, [U.S. president-elect Donald] Trump will take power and have to implement economic plans and people will realize that this could have some potential inflationary impact.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.11 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat, Germany’s DAX gained 0.31 per cent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.12 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.3 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.92 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices climbed slightly after OPEC+ decided to delay planned output increase until April 2025 and extend the full unwind of production cuts by a year until the end of 2026.
Brent crude futures was up 0.55 per cent to US$72.71 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 0.58 per cent to trade at US$68.94 a barrel.
“This was the only option they (OPEC+) had available unless they were prepared to suffer the consequences of lower prices,” Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
In other commodities, spot gold held steady at US$2,649.69 an ounce. U.S. gold futures eased 0.1 per cent to US$2,673.30.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.01 US cents to 71.38 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 1.12 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, declined 0.51 per cent to 105.77.
Bitcoin broke US$100,000 as cryptocurrency investors bet on a friendly U.S. regulatory shift.
The euro gained 0.68 per cent to US$1.0584. The British pound advanced 0.54 per cent to US$1.2767.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.209 per cent.
Other corporate news
U.S. discount store operator Dollar General has trimmed the upper end of its annual profit forecast on hurricane-related expenses, while also laying out a plan to open more stores as well as remodel old ones next year.
Economic news
Euro zone retail sales
Germany factory orders
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s merchandise trade balance for October.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Nov. 30. Estimate is 215,000, up 2,000 from the previous week.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. goods and services trade deficit for October.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for November.
(10 a.m. ET) Canada’s Ivey PMI for November.
Also: OPEC+ meeting
With Reuters and The Canadian Press