Equities
Global markets were muted as doubts grew about peace talks taking place between Iran and the United States in Pakistan ahead of the end of a two-week ceasefire, although losses were contained by renewed enthusiasm on AI underpinning demand.
Wall Street futures were in positive territory ahead of U.S. retail sales figures for March.
TSX futures followed sentiment higher after Canada’s main stock market closed up yesterday.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from GE Aerospace, UnitedHealth Group Inc., RTX Corp., Chubb Ltd., Capital One Financial Corp. and 3M Co.
“Technology stocks – particularly AI-related names – are back in focus as recent earnings helped ease concerns about heavy AI spending and uncertain return timelines,“ Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, wrote in a note.
“Zooming out, the geopolitical and macro backdrop remains fragile, and investors are turning to data to gauge the economic impact of the Iran conflict.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.11 per cent, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.72 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.26 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.89 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.48 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices fell on expectations peace talks between the U.S. and Iran will take place this week and allow more supply to flow from the key Middle East producing region.
Brent crude futures declined 0.5 per cent to US$95.01 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for June delivery was down 0.58 per cent to US$86.91.
“The market [is] inclined to believe that, before the expiration of the ceasefire tomorrow, at least an extension will be reached between the U.S. and Iran, and that the Israeli–Palestinian talks scheduled for Thursday will not disappoint either,” said analyst Tamas Varga at PVM Oil Associates.
In other commodities, spot gold was down 0.7 per cent to US$4,785.56 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery fell 0.5 per cent to US$4,804.70.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 73.18 US cents to 73.33 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.76 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.19 per cent to 98.28. The U.S. dollar traded at $1.3661.
The euro fell 0.25 per cent to US$1.1761. The British pound dropped 0.25 per cent to US$1.3502.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.257 per cent.
Economic news
8:15 a.m. ET: U.S. ADP employment (four-week average change) for April 4.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. retail sales for March. Consensus is gain of 1.3 per cent (or 0.2 per cent excluding gas and automobiles) from February.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. business inventories for February.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. pending home sales for March. Consensus is a month-over-month rise of 0.3 per cent.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. Senate Banking Committee confirmation hearing for Fed Chair nominee Kevin Warsh.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press