Equities
Global stocks retreated as investors assessed the implications of deepening geopolitical tensions and mixed U.S. labour market data.
Wall Street futures were in the red after a mixed close yesterday in U.S. markets.
TSX futures pointed lower after Canada’s main stock index snapped its winning streak yesterday.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Aritzia Inc. and Tilray Brands Inc.
A slew of data releases painted a mixed picture of the U.S. labour market, which appears stuck in a “no hire, no fire” state.
“Together, the data pointed to a slowing – but not collapsing – U.S. economy," Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, wrote in a note. “Traders slightly pared back March rate-cut expectations ... and equities gave back gains.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.37 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.29 per cent, Germany’s DAX gave back 0.2 per cent and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.18 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.63 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 1.17 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices rose after two days of declines as investors assessed a large stock build in U.S. fuel inventories while also monitoring developments in Venezuela.
Brent crude futures were up 0.98 per cent to US$60.55 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 1 per cent to US$56.57.
In other commodities, spot gold fell 0.7 per cent to US$4,420.09 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for February delivery slid 0.8 per cent to US$4,427.70.
“Gold and silver remain under pressure as the annual commodity-index rebalancing gets under way. Over the next five days, COMEX futures could see selling in the region of US$6-billion to US$7-billion in each metal,” said Ole Hansen, head of commodity strategy at Saxo Bank.
The annual Bloomberg Commodity Index rebalancing aims to keep the index aligned with the current state of the global commodity market. This year’s window runs Jan. 9-15.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.99 US cents to 72.19 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.69 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.16 per cent to 98.85.
The euro slipped 0.1 per cent to US$1.1664. The British pound declined 0.28 per cent to US$1.3425.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.180 per cent.
Economic news
Euro zone’s CPI expectations and economic confidence data
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada merchandise trade balance for October, which showed a smaller-than-expected deficit of $583-million. BMO economists expected a deficit of $1.5-billion, flipping from a minor surplus a month earlier.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. weekly initial jobless claims
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. productivity and unit labour cost for the third quarter
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. goods and services trade deficit for October. BMO expects a US$58 billion reading
10 am ET: U.S. wholesale inventories
With Reuters and The Canadian Press