Equities
World markets are keeping an eye on oil prices, which fell Friday but remained on course for a third consecutive weekly rise, as tensions continue to flare in the Middle East.
U.S. futures edged lower after major U.S. markets were closed yesterday for the Juneteenth holiday.
TSX futures edged up. September futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.2 per cent at 07:00 a.m. ET.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Accenture, Kroger Co. and Darden Restaurants Inc. Accenture fell 3.9 per cent after the IT services provider said new bookings decreased in the third quarter. Kroger bumped up its annual same-store sales forecast on Friday, betting on strong grocery demand. Darden Restaurants forecast annual same-store sales above estimates after strong quarterly results on Friday, banking on demand driven by food delivery and advertising.
Investors remained cautious after the White House said Thursday that President Donald Trump could decide on whether to launch an attack on Iran within the next two weeks, but that he “still believes diplomacy is an option,” said Anderson Alves, a trader at ActivTrades.
“Risk sentiments were cautious as Iran-Israel tensions continued roiling,” Mizuho Bank Ltd. said in a commentary.
“While the immediate prospect of a U.S. intervention in Iran may have diminished, the fact this is reportedly a two-week hiatus means it will remain a live issue for the markets going into next week,” said Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell.
“A meeting of European ministers with their Iranian counterparts to try and formulate a deal today could be crucial.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.5 per cent at 538.53 points.
Britain’s FTSE 100 was 0.4 per cent higher at 8,830.66 and the CAC-40 in Paris gained 0.48 per cent to 7,589.63. Germany’s DAX rose 0.86 per cent at 23,256.23.
Stocks were mixed in Asia on Friday. Japan’s Nikkei 225 index edged 0.2 per cent lower to 38,403.23, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.26 per cent to 23,530.48.
Commodities
Crude oil prices edged lower as investors awaited clarity on whether or not the U.S. will join Israel’s war against Iran.
Brent crude prices eased over 2 per cent, but at US$77 a barrel it was close to the January peak it hit last week.
U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude for July - which did not settle on Thursday as it was a U.S. holiday and expires on Friday - was up 52 cents, or 0.7 per cent, to $75.66.
“However, while Israel and Iran carry on pounding away at each other there can always be an unintended action that escalates the conflict and touches upon oil infrastructure,” PVM analyst John Evans said.
“The world has more than adequate supply for 2025, but not if the nightmare scenario of 20 million (barrels per day) being blocked in the seas of Arabia, however briefly that might be.”
Meanwhile, spot gold slipped 0.7 per cent to US$3,347.80 an ounce, as of 1201 GMT, and was down 2.5 per cent for the week so far. U.S. gold futures shed 1.3 per cent to $3,364.00..
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened slightly against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.84 U.S. cents to 73.06 U.S. cents in early trading.
The dollar index, which measures the greenback against other currencies, including the Swiss franc, the Japanese yen and the euro, is set to rise 0.55 per cent this week.
The euro was up 0.26 per cent to US$1.15. The British pound was up 0.2 per cent to US$1.34.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was flat at 4.3909 per cent.
Economic news
Statistics Canada says retail sales rose 0.3 per cent to $70.1 billion in April.
China’s central bank held the benchmark lending rates steady as widely expected, while data from Japan showed core inflation hit a two-year high in May, keeping pressure on the Bank of Japan to resume interest rate hikes.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian industrial product and raw materials price indexes for May.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian retail sales for April.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s new housing price index for May.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. leading indicators for May
With Reuters, Associated Press and The Canadian Press