Equities
Global markets climbed as investors assessed key U.S. jobs data following heavy selling of computer chip stocks in Asia.
Wall Street futures extended gains after a weaker-than-expected jobs report tempered expectations for interest rate hikes by the Federal Reserve this year.
TSX futures pointed higher after Canada’s main stock market was closed yesterday for a holiday.
“The plunge in Asia semis today is more about a hangover from Wall Street,” said Fabien Yip, a market analyst at IG, adding that profit-taking appeared to be the key driver.
“Layered on top is Apple’s reported outreach to restricted Chinese memory makers for China-market devices, which introduces pricing threat to the Korean and Japanese incumbents.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 1.11 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.92 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 1.61 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.3 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.47 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.76 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices fell for a third consecutive day as concerns over supply disruptions eased after Qatar said Iran and the U.S. had made progress in talks over the Strait of Hormuz.
Brent futures were down 1.2 per cent to US$70.68 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 1.36 per cent to $67.65 a barrel.
The talks made “positive progress” on matters related to the memorandum that halted the war in June, a Qatar Foreign Ministry spokesperson said in a post on X, though there was no sign the two sides made headway toward a lasting peace.
“Recovering oil flows through the Strait continue to weigh on prices, driven by previously stranded tankers exiting the Gulf. This additional supply is a headwind for oil for now,” said UBS analyst Giovanni Staunovo.
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.9 per cent to US$4,064.41 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for August delivery inched down 0.1 per cent to US$4,076.60.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 70.24 US cents to 70.67 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 1.8 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, dropped 0.63 per cent to 100.75. The dollar was pegged at $1.4176.
The euro rose 0.63 per cent to US$1.1451. The British pound advanced 0.64 per cent to US$1.3361.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.479 per cent.
Economic news
Euro area employment data
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. nonfarm payrolls for June, which showed the U.S. economy added 57,000 jobs compared with consensus estimates of 115,000 jobs gained. The unemployment rate slipped to 4.2 per cent.
9:30 a.m. ET: Canada S&P global manufacturing PMI for June
10 a.m. ET: U.S. factory orders for May.
Canada auto sales for June
With Reuters and The Canadian Press