Equities
Shares struggled for direction on Wednesday and oil prices slid as investors awaited a raft of important economic data that could underscore this week’s corporate warnings about the impact of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
The U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter, weighed down by a deluge of goods imported by businesses eager to avoid higher costs, underscoring the disruptive nature of the tariff policy.
Meanwhile, Canada’s gross domestic product contracted by 0.2 per cent in February on a monthly basis for the first time since November as activities across mining, oil and gas and construction sectors shrunk, data showed.
S&P and Nasdaq futures were both slightly lower.
TSX futures were down.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, Cenovus Energy Inc., CGI Inc, GFL Environmental Holdings Inc., Loblaw Companies Ltd., Parkland Fuel Corp., among others.
It will be a long day on Wall Street with “Magnificent Seven” members Meta Platforms and Microsoft’s results due after markets close
“We raise the probability of a prolonged economic stagnation in the coming months, meeting the criteria for a recession, to 50 per cent,” said David Kohl, chief economist at Julius Baer.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.24 per cent as of 9 a.m. ET. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down by 0.14 per cent, Germany’s DAX was down 0.28 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was down 0.13 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.57 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.51 per cent.
Commodities
Brent crude futures were down 1.85 per cent to $63.06 a barrel, having tumbled 2.4 per cent overnight. U.S. crude lost 1.7 per cent to US$59.38 per barrel.
The key benchmarks are also set for their largest monthly drop in almost three and a half years with Brent having lost 15.4 per cent and WTI 17 per cent.
In other commodities, spot gold was down 1.18 per cent at US$3,294.10 an ounce as of this morning. However, bullion was on track to log its fourth consecutive monthly gain, up 5.1 per cent so far in April.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.21 US cents to 72.37 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 2.93 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, was up 0.13 per cent to 99.37.
The euro was down 0.09 per cent to US$1.14. The British pound was down 0.29 per cent to US$1.3371.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.165 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.
Canada’s business leaders see a window of opportunity for Prime Minister Mark Carney’s new government to push through big changes for Canada’s economy while voters are unusually united about the key issues confronting the country – but they want to see results quickly.
Royal Bank of Canada has dropped its sustainable finance targets – including a $500-billion commitment to decarbonization efforts – blaming the country’s anti-greenwashing provisions and changing measurement practices.
Economic news
(8:15 a.m. ET) U.S. ADP national employment report for April.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s monthly GDP for February. The Street is projecting a month-over-month decline of 0.1 per cent.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. real GDP and price index for Q1. Consensus is annualized rate increases of 0.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent, respectively.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. employment cost index for Q1. Consensus is a rise of 0.9 per cent from Q4 and up 3.5 per cent year-over-year.
(1:30 p.m. ET) Bank of Canada’s summary of deliberations for the April 16 decision are released.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press