Equities
Global markets were mostly higher as investors assessed fresh U.S. payrolls numbers.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened in positive territory as traders increased bets on a Federal Reserve interest rate cut this month after payrolls report.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.13 per cent to 44,824.29, the S&P 500 gained 0.10 per cent, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.22 per cent to 19,743.959 at the bell.
U.S. job growth surged in November, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by 227,000 jobs, compared with consensus estimates of 200,000, while the unemployment rate rose to 4.2 per cent.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.53 per cent higher at 25,816.05, lifted by technology stocks as investors considered jobs data. Canada’s unemployment rate rose more than expected to 6.8 per cent in November, a near-eight-year high excluding the pandemic years, even as the economy added a net 50,500 jobs,
In Canada, investors are getting results from BRP Inc. and Laurentian Bank of Canada. Canadian Western Bank has rescheduled its earnings release to mid-December.
U.S. payrolls data “clear the path for the Federal Reserve to further reduce the policy rate in December--nothing in these jobs data supports a pause in normalization,” Jamie Cox, managing partner at Harris Financial Group, said.
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Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.33 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.02 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.2 per cent and France’s CAC 40 rose 1.43 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.77 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.56 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices fell, with weak demand in focus after the OPEC+ group postponed planned supply increases and extended deep output cuts to the end of 2026.
Brent crude futures were down about 0.9 per cent to US$71.35 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures slid about 1 per cent to US$67.53 a barrel.
“The outcome of the latest meeting of OPEC+ members surprised us positively ... The extension of the production cuts shows the group remains united and is still targeting to keep the oil market in balance,” UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo said.
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.2 per cent to US$2,637.49 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures added 0.4 per cent to trade at US$2,659.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 70.89 US cents to 71.37 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 1.24 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, declined 0.03 per cent to 105.68.
The euro slid 0.04 per cent to US$1.0587. The British pound gained 0.12 per cent to US$1.2775.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.142 per cent.
Other corporate news
Ski-Doo maker BRP has reported a 17.5-per-cent decline in third-quarter revenue compared to last year, and an almost 70 per cent drop in profit as it faced softer demand. The news comes on the heels of the company laying off more than 120 workers and managers at three Quebec facilities.
Laurentian Bank of Canada has reported a fourth-quarter profit of $40.7-million, up from $30.6-million a year ago. On an adjusted basis, Laurentian says it earned 89 cents per diluted share, slightly beating analysts’ estimates of 87 cents per share.
Economic news
China foreign reserves
Japan household spending
Euro zone real GDP, which showed productivity growth remained weak in the third quarter despite a modest expansion in the bloc’s economy, continuing a poor run that has lasted years.
Germany industrial production and trade surplus
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian employment for November.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. nonfarm payrolls for November.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for December (preliminary reading).
(3 p.m. ET) U.S. consumer credit for October.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press