Equities
Global markets were mixed in cautious trading as jitters about artificial intelligence disruption persisted.
Wall Street futures extended gains as investors assessed jobs data for January.
U.S. job growth accelerated and the unemployment rate fell to 4.3 per cent, signs of labour market stability that could give the Federal Reserve room to keep interest rates unchanged for some time while policymakers monitor inflation.
TSX futures were in the black after Canada’s main stock market closed at a fresh record high yesterday, as commodity prices climbed.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Shopify Inc., Manulife Financial Corp., Great-West Lifeco Inc. and Sun Life Financial Inc.
Shopify has set aside US$2-billion for a share buyback program to help lift shareholder sentiment after a month in which investors shed software stocks on concerns tied to artificial intelligence, Irene Galea reports.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Cisco Systems Inc., McDonald’s Corp., T-Mobile US Inc. and Kraft Heinz Co.
“What we’re seeing now is investors being a lot more discerning in terms of their selections within the AI sphere,” said Aneeka Gupta, equity and commodity strategist at WisdomTree.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.96 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.15 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.04 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei is closed for a holiday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.31 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices were on the rise, buoyed by escalating risk as U.S.–Iran talks remained tenuous, while signs of an easing surplus spurred by better demand support from India also added strength.
Brent crude oil futures rose 2.2 per cent to US$70.32 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude advanced 2.4 per cent to US$65.46.
“Ongoing tensions in the Middle East continue to support prices, although so far there has been no supply disruption,” said UBS oil analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
In other commodities, spot gold was up 1.8 per cent to US$5,111.30 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for April delivery gained 2.1 per cent to US$5,136.50 an ounce.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 73.48 US cents to 74.06 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 2.12 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, reversed course and rose 0.11 per cent to 96.91.
The euro eased 0.17 per cent to US$1.1877. The British pound rose 0.15 per cent to US$1.3668.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.190 per cent.
Other corporate news
Bombardier says that Dubai-based private jet provider Vista Global has placed an order worth US$1.18-billion ($1.59-billion) for 40 Challenger 3500 business jets.
Economic news
China’s CPI and PPI for January.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian building permits for December.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. nonfarm payrolls and revisions for January, which increased by 130,000, compared with the consensus 70,000 rise.
1:30 p.m. ET: Bank of Canada’s Summary of Deliberations for the Jan. 28 decision is released.
2 p.m. ET: U.S. budget balance for January.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press