Before the Bell: What every Canadian investor needs to know today

Equities

A fresh bout of AI anxiety pressured global stocks amid investor caution as ‌U.S. midterm election day arrived.

Wall Street futures were mixed as Big Tech’s lacklustre earnings and steep capital spending targets have ​unnerved Wall Street in recent days, putting the election verdict ‌under greater scrutiny.

TSX futures were in negative territory after Canada’s main stock market closed higher yesterday.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Thomson Reuters Corp., Shopify Inc., Suncor Energy Inc., Fortis Inc., Fairfax Financial Holdings Ltd., Intact Financial Corp., Ovintiv Inc. and TransAlta Corp.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Amgen Inc., Arista Networks Inc. and Pfizer Inc.

Traders on Polymarket see about a 77-per-cent chance of Democrats winning both chambers of the US Congress, an outcome that could lead to tougher oversight of AI and ⁠more corporate ​regulation.

“In the case of a full blue sweep, I would expect some populist measures against AI. The narrative against data centres would get a tailwind,” said Alexander Lis, chief investment officer at Social Discovery Ventures.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.43 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 sunk 0.59 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.75 per cent and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.3 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.57 per cent.

Commodities

Oil prices rose as an Iranian official said a ⁠deal to ​the end the war was far off, while the United States struck Iran’s Qeshm Island, fuelling concerns over the escalation of hostilities and risks to energy supplies.

Brent crude futures ​gained 1.84 per cent to US$106.70 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was up 1.85 per cent to US$98.24 a barrel.

“For now, the risk of supply disruptions continues to provide a floor for prices, while uncertainty over Washington’s next move, political developments and traders’ reluctance to carry aggressive positions are ⁠capping the upside,” said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insight ​at Phillip Nova

In other commodities, spot gold slipped 1 per cent to US$3,908.49 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery dropped 1.3 per cent to US$3,917.90.

Currencies and bonds

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 71.43 US cents to 71.65 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.77 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.3964 per US$1.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, was little changed at 101.75.

The euro edged up 0.01 per cent to US$1.1188. The British pound climbed 0.08 per cent to US$1.3417.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.911 per cent.

Economic news

10 a.m. ET: U.S. Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey for September.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. factory orders for September. Consensus is a month-over-month gain of 1.2 per cent.

11 a.m. ET: Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem and senior deputy Carolyn Rogers appear before the House Standing Committee on Finance.

Also: U.S. midterm elections

With Reuters and The Canadian Press