Equities
Global markets were mixed as trade talks between the United States and China extended to a second day, raising some hopes that tensions between the world’s two largest economies may be easing.
Wall Street futures were little changed after U.S. markets closed mixed yesterday.
TSX futures were in positive territory as oil prices climbed.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from GameStop Corp. and JM Smucker Co.
“While market participants are clearly taking a glass half-full view of the outlook, both on trade policy and more broadly, we don’t think that should be interpreted as a view that tariffs will be fully unwound,” said Jonas Goltermann, deputy chief markets economist at Capital Economics.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was flat in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.52 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.43 per cent and France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.03 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.32 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.07 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices climbed as investors awaited the outcome of U.S.-China talks and as Saudi Arabia’s crude supply to China is set to dip slightly.
Brent crude futures rose 0.7 per cent to US$67.48 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude was up 0.7 per cent to US$65.72.
“There’s a sense of optimism around these trade talks, the market is waiting to see what this will produce and that is supporting prices,” said Harry Tchilinguirian, group head of research at Onyx Capital Group.
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at US$3,329.09 an ounce. U.S. gold futures were down0.2 per cent to US$3,350.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.83 US cents to 73.11 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.8 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, advanced 0.07 per cent to 99.01.
The euro inched up 0.05 per cent to US$1.1428. The British pound dropped 0.35 per cent to US$1.3505.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.452 per cent.
Economic news
Japan machine tool orders
U.K. employment: Pay growth in Britain slowed sharply and unemployment rose to its highest in nearly four years in the three months to April, official data showed, potentially making the Bank of England less cautious about cutting interest rates further.
(6 a.m. ET) U.S. NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Survey for May.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press