Before the Bell will pause Monday for holiday and return Tuesday.
Equities
Global markets tumbled as a deadlock in U.S.-Iran negotiations dented risk appetite and inflation fears lifted expectations of interest rate hikes this year.
Wall Street futures were in negative territory after major North American markets closed higher yesterday.
TSX futures followed sentiment lower.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Onex Corp.
Over the past few days, “it’s just been this relentless rally. So I think we’re at a point where that rally exhausts itself a little bit,” said Tim Graf, managing director and head of macro strategy for EMEA at State Street Markets.
But he added that equities remain supported.
“I think if anything is enough to create a pullback, it is what’s happening in rate markets and the prospect that inflation will remain above target for a lot of these central banks and they’ll maybe have to tighten it,” he said.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.37 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 fell 1.43 per cent, Germany’s DAX slid 1.69 per cent and France’s CAC 40 declined 1.38 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.99 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.62 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices climbed after U.S. President Donald Trump said his patience with Iran is running out, adding to concerns over the lack of progress on a peace deal to end ship attacks and seizures around the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent crude oil futures were up 3.4 per cent to US$109.30 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures advanced 3.7 per cent to US$104.90 a barrel
“Market focus is back on the deadlock and a blockaded Strait of Hormuz, with a tail risk of renewed military escalation,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights.
In other commodities, spot gold extended losses for a fourth consecutive session, and was down 2 per cent at US$4,557.25 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery declined 2.7 per cent to US$4,561.30.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.67 US cents to 72.99 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.47 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.43 per cent to 99.24. The dollar was pegged at $1.3758.
The euro slid 0.8 per cent to US$1.1624. The British pound fell 1.42 per cent to US$1.3337.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.548 per cent.
Economic news
Japan’s machine tool orders
ECB’s Economic Bulletin is released
8:15 a.m. ET: Canadian housing starts for April. Estimate is an annualized rate rise of 1.8 per cent.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s manufacturing sales and new orders for March. Consensus estimates are month-over-month increases of 3.5 per cent and 4.0 per cent, respectively.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s international securities transactions for March.
9:15 a.m. ET: U.S. industrial production and capacity utilization for April.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press