Equities
Global shares were mixed amid cautious trading after another selloff driven by nerves over AI valuations, as investors eyed what could be make-or-break earnings from chip giant Nvidia and U.S. jobs data this week.
Wall Street futures were in positive territory after major North American markets closed lower yesterday. Dow futures were up 0.15 per cent, S&P 500 futures rose 0.26 per cent and Nasdaq futures were 0.32 per cent higher as of 9 a.m. ET.
TSX futures followed sentiment higher.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Metro Inc.
A mechanical issue that shut down the grocery retailer’s frozen food distribution centre for nearly two months has been resolved, it said as it reported a hit to its fourth-quarter earnings as a result of the disruption, Susan Krashinsky Robertson reports.
In addition to Nvidia, Wall Street investors are watching earnings from TJX Cos. Inc., Palo Alto Networks Inc., Lowe’s Cos. Inc. and Target Corp.
Nvidia, which sells the graphics processing units underpinning artificial intelligence, has been at the heart of a global rally that has carried stocks to all-time highs. It reports after the U.S. market close today.
“It looks like Nvidia’s stock price has been priced for perfection, so GPU demand must continue to grow strongly for many more years for the stock to stay up,” said Wong Kok Hoi, founder and CEO of APS Asset Management in Singapore.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.18 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 eased 0.15 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.34 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.02 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.34 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.38 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices fell sharply following a report of a U.S. proposal to end the Russian war in Ukraine, as oversupply concerns continued to weigh on prices.
Brent crude futures dropped 2.8 per cent to US$63.08 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down 2.86 per cent at US$59 a barrel.
Ukraine has received “signals” about a set of U.S. proposals to end the war that Washington has discussed with Russia, a senior Ukrainian official told Reuters. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky will hold talks in Turkey today and meet U.S. Army officials in Kyiv tomorrow in a new drive to revive peace negotiations with Russia.
If peace talks succeeded, it would reduce supply risks allowing the market to focus on current supply and demand dynamics, which point to an oversupplied market, Saxo Bank analyst Ole Hansen said.
In other commodities, spot gold was up 1.2 per cent at US$4,115.81 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery gained 1.2 per cent to US$4,116.50 an ounce.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.31 US cents to 71.52 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.16 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.17 per cent to 99.72.
The euro slid 0.06 per cent to US$1.1576. The British pound fell 0.19 per cent to US$1.3120.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.112 per cent.
Other corporate news
Brookfield Asset Management has launched a US$100-billion AI infrastructure program in partnership with Nvidia and Kuwait Investment Authority.
The program will be anchored by a new Brookfield Artificial Intelligence Infrastructure Fund, with a target of $10-billion in equity commitments.
Economic news
Japan trade deficit and core machine orders
Euro zone CPI
8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian construction investment for September.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. housing starts for October.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. building permits for October.
2 p.m. ET: U.S. Fed minutes from Oct. 28-29 meeting are released.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press