Equities
Markets were muted as investors wagered the U.S. Federal Reserve will resume cutting interest rates next month and a blistering rally in global stocks took a breather.
Wall Street futures lid into negative territory after hotter-than-expected producer prices data contrasted with recent tame consumer prices data that had boosted bets of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts this year.
TSX futures pointed higher after another record close for Canada’s main stock index yesterday.
In Canada, investors are getting results from First Majestic Silver Corp.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Applied Minerals Inc. and Deere & Co.
“A [Fed] rate cut in September seems likely given the recent job market revisions,” said Ben Bennett, APAC investment strategist at Legal and General Investment Management.
“But inflation data remains sticky, and there’s no sign of a serious economic downturn, so the Fed will probably want to keep their options open for the rest of the year,” he said.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.43 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 eased 0.08 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.39 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.29 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.45 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.37 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices were stable as investors weighed the potential impact of tomorrow’s U.S.-Russia summit on Ukraine on Russian crude flows, after U.S. President Donald Trump warned of “severe consequences” for Russia if it does not agree to peace.
Brent crude futures rose 0.38 per cent to US$65.88 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 0.42 per cent to US$62.91.
“The uncertainty of U.S.-Russia peace talks continues to add a bullish risk premium given Russian oil buyers could face more economic pressure,” Rystad Energy said in a client note.
In other commodities, spot gold fell 0.3 per cent to US$3,346.19 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery lost 0.4 per cent to US$3,393.80.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.52 US cents to 72.76 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.24 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, climbed 0.02 per cent to 97.86.
The euro declined 0.21 per cent to US$1.1682. The British pound slid 0.17 per cent to US$1.3552.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.208 per cent.
Economic news
Euro zone GDP and industrial production
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Aug. 9. Estimate is 229,000, up 3,000 from the previous week.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. PPI Final Demand for July, which rose rose 3.3 per cent on an annual basis, compared with a 2.5-per-cent gain forecast.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press