Equities
World shares sat around record highs as investors hoped for the best from this week’s barrage of U.S. large-cap earnings, and while President Donald Trump’s latest tariff moves left stocks largely unmoved, it did boost gold and silver still further.
Accusing South Korea’s legislature of “not living up” to its trade deal with Washington, Trump late on Monday said he would increase tariffs on imports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy into the U.S. to 25 per cent.
Wall Street futures were mixed as investors geared up for a slew of earnings from the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Tesla starting on Wednesday. Dow futures were down 0.55 per cent, S&P 500 futures were up 0.24 per cent, and Nasdaq 100 futures were up 0.62 per cent, as of 8:20 a.m. ET
TSX futures were in the black.
In Canada, investors are getting results from AGF Management Ltd. and Metro Inc.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Boeing Co., General Motors Co., NextEra Energy Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc.
“Enthusiasm over the most eventful earnings week of the season has investors raising exposure to tech shares ahead of four of the Magnificent Seven reporting results,” said Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.
On Trump’s higher tariffs on South Korea, Torres said a visit from South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan to Washington as soon as this Friday could “ease tensions and buy its government some additional time to improve relations.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.50 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.70 per cent, Germany’s DAX slid about 0.08 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.40 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.85 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.35 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices were little changed as a massive winter storm hit crude production and affected refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, with price rises offset by a resumption in supply from Kazakhstan.
Brent crude futures were down 0.1 per cent, at US$65.53 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was flat at US$60.62 a barrel.
The U.S. faced a loss of production as a severe winter storm swept across the country, straining energy infrastructure and power grids.
U.S. oil producers lost up to 2 million barrels per day or roughly 15 per cent of national production over the weekend, analysts and traders estimated.
“The cold weather in the U.S. will likely cause quite significant drawdowns in oil stocks over the next few weeks, particularly if this weather persists,” said Tamas Varga, an oil analyst at brokerage PVM. This could boost prices in the coming days, he said.
In other commodities, spot gold climbed 1.2 per cent to US$5,073.52 an ounce. It hit an all-time high of US$5,110.50 on Monday.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.77 US cents to 73.22 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.26 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, slid 0.45 per cent to 96.42.
The euro climbed 0.39 per cent to US$1.1929. The British pound climbed 0.40 per cent to US$1.3736.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.23 per cent.
Economic news
China’s industrial profits
Japan’s machine tool orders
Germany’s retail sales
8:15 a.m. ET: U.S. ADP National Employment Report estimate for Jan. 10.
9 a.m. ET: U.S. FHFA House Price Index for November.
9 a.m. ET: U.S. S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index for November. Consensus is a month-over-month rise of 0.2 per cent and year-over-year gain of 1.1 per cent.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for January.
Also: U.S. Fed meeting begins
With Reuters and The Canadian Press