Equities
North American stock markets opened lower on fresh U.S. trade war anxieties, while traders eyed tumbling oil prices and looked ahead to central bank decisions coming this week.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 144.1 points, or 0.35 per cent, at the open to 41,173.38. The S&P 500 fell 31.4 points, or 0.55 per cent, at the open to 5,655.32, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 160.7 points, or 0.89 per cent, to 17,817.014 at the opening bell.
Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened lower, down 0.2 per cent at 24,977.16 points at 9:31 a.m.
Oil prices tumbled over 1 per cent on Monday after news of an OPEC+ agreement to accelerate oil production increases.
In Canada, investors are getting results from energy companies Parkland Corp., Topaz Energy Corp., and Baytex Energy Corp.; real estate firms RioCan REIT and CT REIT; as well as TMX Group Ltd. and Ero Copper Corp.
Energy traders were reacting to news of a friendly bid by Dallas-based Sunoco LP to buy Canadian fuel distributor Parkland Corp. for $9.1-billion, including debt.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Palantir Technologies Inc. and auto maker Ford Motor Co.
On the trade front, investors reacted to new 100-per-cent U.S. tariffs on foreign-produced movies announced by Mr. Trump on Sunday, with little clarity on how the levies would be implemented. Movie and television production companies that film overseas fell in premarket trading on the news.
Markets were also focused on this week’s meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which is expected to keep interest rates steady, and to a Bank of England meeting. Investors are waiting to see how central banks assess growth and inflation outlook amid volatile U.S. tariff policies.
After weeks of tension, U.S. President Donald Trump said on Sunday he would not remove Jerome Powell as Federal Reserve Chair before his term ends in May, 2026, while describing the central banker as “a total stiff” and repeating calls for the Fed to lower interest rates.
“The main event is the Fed and what is happening in politics has not been forgotten,” Nordea’s chief market strategist Jan von Gerich.
Global trading was subdued by public holidays in Japan, China and Britain.
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.067 per cent. Germany’s DAX gained 0.81 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was down 0.6 per cent.
Commodities
Brent crude and U.S. West Texas crude futures fell after a weekend decision by OPEC+ to further speed up oil output hikes.
Brent crude futures dropped by 87 US cents, or 1.42 per cent, to US$60.42 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude was at US$57.37 a barrel, down 92 US cents, or 1.58 per cent.
Both contracts touched their lowest since April 9, after OPEC+ agreed to accelerate oil production hikes for a second consecutive month, raising output in June by 411,000 barrels per day (bpd).
“The production increase, instigated by Saudi Arabia, is as much about challenging U.S. shale supply as it is to penalize members that have benefited from higher prices while flaunting their production limits,” said Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen.
“Adding barrels into an economic slowdown will weigh on prices until we have a clearer picture on the demand impact.”
In other commodities, gold prices rose more than 2 per cent on Monday, helped by a weaker dollar and safe-haven inflows on worries about a global trade war.
Spot gold was up 2.3 per cent at US$3,313.21 an ounce.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.30 US cents to 72.54 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 3.18 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, lost 0.5 per cent to 99.53.
The euro gained 0.5 per cent to US$1.1356. The British pound gained 0.38 per cent to US$1.3322.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was up slightly to 4.323 per cent.
In Asia, Taiwan’s currency took the spotlight on Monday, with the Taiwan dollar was poised for its biggest single-day gain against the U.S. dollar since the 1980s, rising to as high as 29.59 per U.S. dollar.
Its surge on Monday stoked speculation of a revaluation of Asian currencies to win U.S. trade concessions and underscores a broader re-rating of the region’s economic prospects.
Economic news
Japan, China and U.K. markets closed
9 a.m. ET: Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for April.
9:45 a.m. ET: U.S. S&P Global Services and Composite PMI for April
10 a.m. ET: U.S. ISM Services PMI for April.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press