Equities
Global stocks edged mostly higher as investors considered the prospect of U.S. interest rate cuts and the scramble for trade deals ahead of President Donald Trump’s July 9 tariffs deadline.
Wall Street futures were in negative territory after a weaker than expected jobs report for June. TSX futures followed sentiment lower after the market was closed yesterday for the Canada Day holiday.
Trump said he was not considering extending the deadline for countries to negotiate trade deals with the United States, and cast doubts again that an agreement could be reached with Japan, although he expects a deal with India.
“You’ve seen it with other trade negotiations that they take years if you want to do them properly,” said Matthias Scheiber, senior portfolio manager and the head of the multi-asset solutions team at Allspring Global Investments.
“It’s not something you negotiate within a week. I think that’s also what the U.S. is realizing now. If the tariffs get ramped up again and the situation sours, short-term, we can definitely see some volatility.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.26 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.28 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.29 per cent and France’s CAC 40 added 1.13 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.56 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.62 per cent.
Commodities
Oil futures edged up as Iran suspended co-operation with the UN nuclear watchdog and markets weighed expectations of more supply from major producers next month.
Brent crude added 0.9 per cent to trade at US$67.71 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 0.8 per cent to US$66 a barrel.
“The market is pricing in some geopolitical risk premium from Iran’s move on the IAEA,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS. “But this is about sentiment, there are no disruptions to oil.”
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.3 per cent at US$3,347.59 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 per cent to US$3,358.10.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 73.20 US cents to 73.36 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.28 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, climbed 0.2 per cent to 97.01.
The euro declined 0.36 per cent to US$1.1765. The British pound dropped 1.08 per cent to US$1.3595.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.304 per cent.
Economic news
Euro zone jobless rate
(8:15 a.m. ET) U.S. ADP National Employment Report for June. Private payrolls dropped by 33,000 jobs after a downwardly revised 29,000 increase in May. Economists had forecast private employment increasing 95,000 following a previously reported gain of 37,000 in May.
(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Manufacturing PMI for June.
Also: U.S. and Canadian auto sales for June.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press