Equities
Global shares attempted to rebound after Microsoft earnings eased some AI worries, while the U.S. government’s long-term borrowing costs hit their highest since 2007.
Wall Street futures rose after North America’s major stock indexes closed lower on Wednesday. Dow futures were up 0.4 per cent, S&P 500 futures up 0.62 per cent, and Nasdaq futures up 1.34 per cent as of 7:26 a.m. ET. TSX futures were up 0.3 per cent.
In Canada, investors are getting results from AltaGas Ltd., Bombardier Inc., Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, Capstone Mining Corp., Colliers International Group Inc., Definity Financial Corp., Eldorado Gold Corp., Endeavour Mining Corp., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., First Majestic Silver Corp., Gildan Activewear Inc., Loblaw Co. Ltd., Pembina Pipeline Corp., Power Corp. of Canada, TC Energy Corp. and TMX Group Ltd.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc., Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., Mastercard Inc., Shell PLC and Stryker Corp.
Markets are at a delicate juncture, with steep declines in the shares of some of the biggest winners of the AI boom spooking investors. South Korea’s KOSPI fell 1.23 per cent to end its third consecutive day in the red. Earnings from Microsoft and Meta reinforced the view that investors were looking for signs that the costly AI buildout is starting to pay off.
“We don’t think the AI story is over by any means, but clearly there’s scope for bumps along the way,” said Sanjiv Tumkur, head of equity research at Rathbones.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.61 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.30 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.24 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.98 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.71 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.20 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices edged down after earlier gains as investors weighed talks between Oman and Iran over the Strait of Hormuz and escalating tensions between the United States and Iran.
Brent futures were down 0.40 per cent at US$90.38 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were down 0.85 per cent at US$83.74.
“The fact that Oman is in talks with Iran could suggest that progress is being made on re-opening the Strait of Hormuz,” said Hamad Hussain, a climate and commodities economist at Capital Economics.
In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to US$4,076.52 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for August delivery gained 1 per cent to US$4,074.30.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.07 US cents to 71.28 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, fell 0.17 per cent to 100.555. The dollar was pegged at $1.4044.
The euro rose 0.10 per cent to US$1.148. The British pound climbed 0.17 per cent to US$1.3391.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.668 per cent.
Economic news
Bank of Japan monetary policy announcement, plus consumer confidence and machine tool orders
Euro area GDP, economic confidence and employment data. Germany also releases inflation data
Bank of England monetary policy meeting
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. weekly initial jobless claims
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. real GDP for the second quarter. Consensus is for 2.3-per-cent annual growth, accelerating from the previous quarter’s 2.1 per cent.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. personal spending and personal income for June. Consensus is for a rise of 0.4 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. core PCE price index. Consensus is for a monthly increase of 0.1 per cent, or 3.3 per cent from a year earlier.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press