Equities
Global markets were on the rise, lifted by technology stocks, though concerns over stalled U.S.-Iran peace talks kept investors cautious while a high-stakes U.S.-China summit provided few surprises.
Wall Street futures were in positive territory after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq posted fresh record closes yesterday.
TSX futures followed sentiment higher.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Canadian Tire Corp. Ltd., Brookfield Corp., Quebecor Inc., Keyera Corp. and Canada Goose Holdings Inc.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Applied Materials Inc.
Charu Chanana, chief investment strategist at Saxo, said markets were looking for the absence of a new shock. “So far, that seems to be enough.”
“With expectations low and AI momentum still strong, investors are treating vague diplomacy as a reason to move on rather than a reason to de-risk.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.44 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.17 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 1.22 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.54 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.98 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was little changed.
Commodities
Oil prices were broadly stable after a Chinese readout from a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed co-operation and stability. Both leaders agreed in a meeting that the Strait of Hormuz must be open for the free flow of energy, according to a White House readout.
Brent crude futures were up 0.39 per cent to US$106.00 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures added 0.14 per cent to trade at US$101.20.
“Oil prices are in a wait-and-see mode,” ING analysts said in a note on Thursday, adding that the market could be pinning too much hope on the U.S.-China talks yielding some positive results on the Iran war.
In other commodities, spot gold inched up 0.1 per cent to US$4,689.79 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery fell 0.2 per cent to US$4,696.20.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.89 US cents to 72.99 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.01 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, edged down 0.02 per cent to 98.50. The dollar is pegged at $1.3709.
The euro declined 0.06 per cent to US$1.1710. The British pound slid 0.11 per cent to US$1.3514.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.460 per cent.
Economic news
Japan’s current account surplus
5 a.m. ET: Canada’s existing home sales and average prices. Home sales in Canada rose 0.7 per cent in April, the first increase in half a year as falling home prices brought potential buyers back into the market, Rachelle Younglai writes.
5 a.m. ET: Canada’s MLS Home Price Index for April. Estimate is a year-over-year slide of 4.0 per cent.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian wholesale trade for March. Consensus is a rise of 1.4 per cent from February.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s new motor vehicle sales for March. Estimate is a decline of 8.0 per cent year-over-year.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims for week of May 9. Estimate is 205,000, up 5,000 from the previous week.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. retail sales for April. The Street expects a rise of 0.5 per cent from March.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. import prices of April. Consensus is a month-over-month increase of 1.1 per cent and year-over-year gain of 3.1 per cent.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. business inventories for March.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press