Equities
Sinking crude prices on news that Iranian fuel may soon hit global markets heralded inflation relief and pushed bond yields lower, while stocks were quieter ahead of Kevin Warsh’s debut meeting as chair of the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Wall Street futures were mixed, with S&P 500 and Nasdaq futures pointing higher; TSX futures were in negative territory. In the previous session, the Nasdaq and S&P 500 finished lower, while the Dow and TSX marked their second straight record closes.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Andrew Peller Ltd., which on Monday agreed to be bought by Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.05 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.16 per cent, Germany’s DAX lost 0.45 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was unchanged.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.72-per-cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng finished 0.74-per-cent lower.
Commodities
Oil prices steadied, hovering near a three-month low, as investors weighed the impact of a U.S.-Iran peace deal and the International Energy Agency’s warning that supply could significantly overtake demand next year, after depleted inventories are replenished.
Brent crude futures rose 2 US cents to US$78.98 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate gained 3 US cents to US$76.08 a barrel.
“The current baseline is that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen and that ships will begin transiting through this critical chokepoint in both directions,” PVM Oil analyst Tamas Varga said. “The gradual resumption of oil flows, however slow, will materially affect the oil balance.”
In other commodities, spot gold was flat at US$4,328.67 per ounce. U.S. gold futures for August delivery were down 0.1 per cent at US$4,348.40.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.38 US cents to 71.55 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 1.83 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.09 per cent to 99.365. The dollar was pegged at $1.3999.
The euro lost 0.06 per cent to US$1.1603. The British pound shed 0.07 per cent to US$1.3418.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.442 per cent.
Economic news
8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian new housing price index for May
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. retail sales for May. Consensus is for a rise of 0.5 per cent, holding steady from April.
2:00 p.m. ET: FOMC announcement and summary of economic projections. Fed chair Warsh holds first press briefing at 2:30 p.m. ET.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press