Equities
Global markets were on the rise as optimism grew about a deal to end the Iran war, while traders digested a buffet of economic data and critical earnings reports.
Wall Street futures were in positive territory after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq pushed to record high closes yesterday as a wave of solid earnings allayed concerns about the economy.
TSX futures followed sentiment higher.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Kraken Robotics Inc.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Netflix Inc., Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., PepsiCo Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Charles Schwab Corp., Prologis Inc., Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and U.S. Bancorp.
“Hopes are high that a U.S.-Iran deal may be struck over the coming days,” analysts from DBS in Singapore wrote in a research note. “The Middle East conflict is no longer treated as a stress point by market participants, and we wonder if a U.S.-Iran deal or ceasefire extension is already in the price.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.47 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.78 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.71 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.57 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.38 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.72 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices advanced as the market questioned whether peace talks between the U.S. and Iran would achieve a deal to end the war that has caused unprecedented disruption of Middle Eastern energy supplies.
Brent crude futures were up 1.58 per cent to US$96.43 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures climbed 0.9 per cent to $92.11 a barrel.
“While there are hopes for de-escalation, many investors remain skeptical, given that U.S.-Iran talks have repeatedly broken down even after appearing to make progress,” said Toshitaka Tazawa, an analyst at Fujitomi Securities.
In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.5 per cent to US$4,815.15 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery gained 0.3 per cent to US$4,836.50.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.76 US cents to 72.93 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.13 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.13 per cent to 98.18. The U.S. dollar traded at $1.3718.
The euro slid 0.13 per cent to US$1.1784. The British pound declined 0.11 per cent to US$1.3548.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.276 per cent.
Other corporate news
Choice Properties REIT and KingSett Capital, a private real estate firm, are teaming up to buy First Capital REIT for $5.2-billion, The Globe’s Tim Kiladze reports.
Economic news
China’s GDP, retail sales, industrial production and fixed asset investment
Euro zone’s CPI
Canada’s existing home sales and average prices for March.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s MLS Home Price Index for March. Estimate is a drop of 5.0 per cent year-over-year.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian new motor vehicle sales for February. Estimate is a gain of 1.0 per cent from the same period a year ago.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims for week of April 11. Estimate is 214,000 down 5,000 from the previous week.
9:15 a.m. ET: U.S. industrial production and capacity utilization for March.
Also: G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Washington
With Reuters and The Canadian Press