Equities
Global markets climbed on expectations of a U.S. interest-rate cut next week.
Wall Street futures turned higher after a report showed that U.S. applications for unemployment benefits fell to their lowest level in more than three years last week.
TSX futures were in positive territory after the last of the big banks reported earnings that beat estimates.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Bank of Montreal, Toronto-Dominion Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and BRP Inc.
CIBC has reported a rise in fourth-quarter profit, driven by gains its capital markets division, and increased its quarterly dividend by 10 cents to $1.07.
BMO has also recorded increased profit that beat estimates. The bank raised its quarterly dividend by 4 cents, or 2 per cent, to $1.67 per share.
TD booked fourth-quarter earnings that topped analysts’ estimates as the lender posted a boost in capital markets activity and continued to adjust its U.S. business. The bank increased its quarterly dividend to $1.08 per share, up from $1.05 per share.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Kroger Co., Dollar General Corp. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise Co.
“Investors are awaiting tomorrow’s [U.S.] PCE numbers, which could further clear the path for rate cuts beyond December,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, wrote in a note. “At this pace of economic deterioration, the Fed may have little choice but to cut further.
“The question is whether softening Fed expectations will revive tech risk appetite, or if the rally will shift to non-tech and smaller companies.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.41 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.24 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.74 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.43 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.33 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.68 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices firmed after Ukrainian attacks on Russia’s oil infrastructure signalled potential supply constraints, and stalled peace talks tempered expectations of a deal restoring Russian oil flows to global markets, though weak fundamentals kept gains limited.
Brent crude rose 0.6 per cent to US$63.02 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 0.7 per cent to US$59.36 a barrel.
“Ukraine’s drone campaign against Russian refining infrastructure has shifted into a more sustained and strategically coordinated phase,” consultancy Kpler said in a research report, adding that strikes now target refineries in repeated cycles, aiming to keep key assets from stabilizing.
In other commodities, spot gold slipped 0.2 per cent to US$4,199.06 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for February wer 0.1 per cent to $4,229 an ounce.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.53 US cents to 71.70 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.13 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, climbed 0.03 per cent to 98.88.
The euro was little changed at US$1.1671. The British pound gained 0.07 per cent to US$1.3361.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.085 per cent.
Economic news
Euro zone retail sales
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Nov. 29, which fell to 191,000 from the previous week’s 218,000. Estimates had been 223,000, up 7,000 from the previous week.
10 a.m. ET: Canada’s Ivey PMI for November.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for November.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press