Equities
Global markets were mixed as a deep selloff in global software stocks entered a second day, reflecting growing concerns about how AI advances might impact these companies’ livelihoods.
As The Globe’s Joe Castaldo reports, “the pattern should be familiar by now: An apparent breakthrough occurs in artificial intelligence that promises to upend traditional industries, and the market panics, driving down share prices in legacy companies.
“On Tuesday, data providers and legal software companies had their turn after Anthropic released productivity tools for lawyers.”
Wall Street futures were mixed with tech-heavy Nasdaq pointing lower.
TSX futures were in positive territory as commodity prices climbed.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Brookfield Asset Management Ltd.
Brookfield named Connor Teskey its chief executive officer. The Globe’s James Bradshaw reports, following through on a long-expected succession plan for veteran CEO Bruce Flatt. It also announced a 15-per-cent dividend boost.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Alphabet Inc., Eli Lilly & Co., AbbVie Inc., Toyota Motor Corp. Ltd., Novartis AG, Uber Technologies Inc., UBS AG, Yum! Brands Inc. and Qualcomm Inc.
JP Morgan analyst Toby Ogg said investors’ main concerns centred on longer-term growth assumptions, issues that extend well beyond standard three-year forecast horizons.
“Our sense from investor discussions is that general appetite to step in remains generally low,” he added, noting that software companies face multiple risks, including competition from AI native firms and clients building their own solutions in-house.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.41 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.32 per cent, Germany’s DAX slid 0.33 per cent and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.85 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.78 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.04 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices extended gains after the U.S. shot down an Iranian drone and armed Iranian boats approached a U.S.-flagged vessel in the Strait of Hormuz, rekindling fears of an escalation in tensions between Washington and Tehran ahead of planned talks.
Brent crude futures were up 0.3 per cent to US$67.50 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) rose 0.3 per cent to US$63.41 a barrel.
“Uncertainty about how these talks will play out means the market will likely continue to price in some risk premium,” said ING commodity strategists.
In other commodities, spot gold gained 2 per cent to US$5,038.99 an ounce after surging nearly 6 per cent yesterday. U.S. gold futures for April delivery climbed 2.6 per cent to US$5,061.90 an ounce.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 73.12 US cents to 73.38 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.58 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.04 per cent to 97.50.
The euro edged up 0.04 per cent to US$1.1824. The British pound gained 0.16 per cent to US$1.3720.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.290 per cent.
Economic news
Euro area consumer price index
S&P global services PMIs
8:15 am ET: U.S. ADP national employment report, which showed private payrolls increased less than expected in January.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press