Before the Bell: What every Canadian investor needs to know today
A look at Thursday morning’s market action
Equities
Global markets retreated as Wall Street earnings failed to quell worries over soaring AI investment costs, while escalating Gulf tensions boosted oil and weighed on risk sentiment.
Wall Street futures were in negative territory after major North American markets closed higher yesterday.
TSX futures followed sentiment lower.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Procter & Gamble Co., Union Pacific Corp., Western Digital Corp., Lockheed Martin Corp., Newmont Corp., Blackstone Inc., Spotify Technology SA, Norfolk Southern Corp., Honeywell International Inc. and Nasdaq Inc.
“There are lots of cross currents in markets at the moment, which are grappling for a narrative right now,” said Ben Laidler, head of macro and equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.
“The big concern is that AI-driven earnings narrative, which has supported U.S. earnings and spread to global equities, may be challenged here.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.05 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.6 per cent, Germany’s DAX gave back 1.1 per cent and France’s CAC 40 retreated 1.45 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.65 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 3.03 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices rallied after more Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia stoked concerns over a broader escalation of conflict and further disruptions to crude supplies from the world’s key exporting region.
Brent crude futures climbed 2.59 per cenUSt to US$111.64 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude gained 2.31 per cent to US$99.39.
“Oil prices remain well bid, with ICE Brent back above US$110 per barrel this morning following additional deadly attacks on Saudi Arabia,” ING analysts said in a note.
In other commodities, spot gold slid 1.3 per cent to US$4,085.29 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery dropped 1.2 per cent to US$4,100.90.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.16 US cents to 71.36 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.86 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.4017 per US$1.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, dropped 0.24 per cent to 101.53.
The euro edged up 0.03 per cent to US$1.1236. The British pound rose 0.1 per cent to US$1.3408.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 5.075 per cent.
Economic news
Euro area consumer conference and France business confidence
8 a.m. ET: Canada’s CFIB business barometer
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s industrial product and raw materials price indexes for September. BMO economists estimate a rise of 1 per cent and 5 per cent respectively.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada new housing price index for September. BMO forecasts a monthly decline of 0.1 per cent and a drop of 2 per cent from a year earlier.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims
10 a.m. ET: U.S. leading indicators
With Reuters and The Canadian Press