Equities
Global markets were mixed as oil prices eased but risk remained elevated with the expanding Middle East conflict reinforcing inflation fears.
Wall Street futures were in the red after major North American markets closed down yesterday. TSX futures followed sentiment lower.
“Oil and gas prices are likely to remain biased to the upside, with high volatility leading to sharp swings in both directions,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, wrote in a note. “Uncertainty will keep market participants on edge.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.38 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.25 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.25 per cent and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.2 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.88 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices slipped as Canada, leading European countries and Japan offered to join efforts to secure safe passage for ships through the Strait of Hormuz and the U.S. outlined moves to boost oil supply.
Looking to curb soaring oil prices, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the U.S. may soon remove sanctions from Iranian oil stranded on tankers, and said a further release of crude from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve was possible.
Brent futures declined 1.27 per cent to US$107.30 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gave back 1.08 per cent to trade at US$94.52.
“The damage has been inflicted, and even if safe passage for tankers is somehow negotiated through Hormuz, reviving logistics fully fledged can take an awfully long time,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.
“Till then, any direct hit on export infrastructure or tanker routes could push prices sharply higher, while sustained diplomatic engagement may cap rallies and accelerate the unwinding of the war premium.”
In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.6 per cent to US$4,674.82 an ounce, rebounding from a near two-month low hit in the previous session. U.S. gold futures for April delivery gained 1.5 per cent to US$4,676.30.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.75 US cents to 73.00 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down 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, rose 0.19 per cent to 99.42.
The euro slid 0.16 per cent to US$1.1570. The British pound declined 0.32 per cent to US$1.3387.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.306 per cent.
Economic news
Euro zone’s trade surplus
8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian retail sales for January, which rose 1.1 per cent compared with an estimated increase of 1.5 per cent.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s new housing price index for February. Estimate is a decline of 0.2 per cent from January and a drop of 2.5 per cent year-over-year.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s industrial product and raw materials price indexes for February. Estimates are month-over-month increases of 2.0 per cent and 3.0 per cent, respectively.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press