Equities
Global markets rose on Thursday, buoyed by reports that the U.S. and U.K. would announce the first tariffs agreement since U.S. President Donald Trump launched a trade war with countries around the world.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 198.6 points at the open to 41,312.57. The S&P 500 rose 32.3 points to 5,663.6, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 182.0 points to 17,920.154.
TSX opened 0.15 per cent higher at 25,198.49 points.
In Canada, investors are getting results from telecoms BCE Inc. – which announced a long-awaited dividend cut – and Quebecor Inc.; energy companies Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. and Cenovus Energy, e-commerce firm Shopify Inc.; insurer Sun Life Financial Inc.; fast food owner Restaurant Brands International Inc.; mining companies Franco-Nevada Corp., Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. and Lundin Gold Inc.; retailer Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd.; and utilities Emera Inc. and Hydro One Ltd.
Stocks and North American futures were buoyed by reports that the U.S. and U.K. would announce details of a trade deal today.
U.S. President Donald Trump touted the deal on social media ahead of a morning announcement. “The agreement with the United Kingdom is a full and comprehensive one that will cement the relationship between the United States and the United Kingdom for many years to come,” Trump wrote.
The news came as investors were awaiting planned talks between U.S. and Chinese officials in Switzerland on Saturday, which could start dialling down the damaging trade war between the world’s biggest economies.
“While the UK isn’t a major exporter to the US, progress there could set the stage for more meaningful deals with heavyweight partners like India, China, Japan, or the EU. Consider it a promising appetizer before the main course,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.
In economic news, the Bank of England made an expected cut to its main interest rate, following a rate hold from the U.S. Federal Reserve the previous day.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.41 per cent in early afternoon. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.29 per cent, Germany’s DAX increased 0.76 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.83 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.41 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.37 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices rose 1 per cent on Thursday on hopes of a breakthrough in upcoming trade talks between the United States and China, the world’s two largest oil consumers.
Brent crude futures were up 89 cents, or 1.5%, at US$62.01 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude rose US$1.02 to US$59.09.
The market has almost stabilized at slightly above US$61 a barrel, said SEB analyst Ole Hvalbye, which along with some optimism around trade talks between the U.S. and China, was providing support.
In other commodities, safe-haven spot gold fell 0.1 per cent to US$3,362.19 on news of the expected U.S.-U.K. trade deal.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.94 US cents to 72.4 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.78 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.78 per cent to 99.93.
The euro gained 0.07 per cent to US$1.1311. The British pound rose 0.35 per cent US$1.3338.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was flat at 4.306 per cent.
Economic news
China trade surplus
Germany industrial production and trade surplus
Bank of England monetary policy announcement.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of May 3. Estimate is 233,000, down 8,000 from the previous week.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. productivity and unit labour costs for Q1 (preliminary reading)
(10 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada’s Financial Stability Report and Financial Systems Survey are released with press conference to follow.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. wholesale inventories for March.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press