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

Equities

Global markets saw gains as technology shares lagged, with investors weighing the implications of a Democratic sweep in ​the U.S. midterm elections ‌on the sector.

Wall Street futures were mixed, with the Nasdaq pointing lower, after major North American stock markets soared yesterday.

TSX futures were in positive territory.

In Canada, investors are getting results from BCE Inc., Bombardier Inc., Canadian Natural Resources Ltd., TC Energy Corp., Wheaton Precious Metals Corp., Gildan Activewear Inc., AtkinsRéalis Group Inc., Pembina Pipeline Corp., Quebecor Inc. and Saputo Inc.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from ConocoPhillips, Airbnb Inc. and Open Text Corp.

“When it comes ​to the headline result, it’s not too different from investor expectations beforehand, even ‌if the scale of the Democratic victory was bigger than expected,” Deutsche Bank strategist Jim Reid said.

“In many respects, the overall rally fits into the classic midterm pattern we’ve previously highlighted. After all, in 20 out of 20 midterm elections since World War Two, the S&P 500 has been higher one year later,” he said.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.58 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.74 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.66 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.94 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.79 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 3.67 per cent.

Commodities

Oil prices edged up as investors weighed the future course of the ​U.S.-Israeli war with Iran after President Donald Trump’s Republican ‌Party suffered heavy losses in midterm elections this week.

Brent futures were up 1.18 per cent to $95.85 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 0.33 per cent to US$88.41.

“The situation in the ⁠Middle East ​is still unresolved and that’s why there is some modest recovery in prices at the moment,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS.

In other commodities, spot gold gained ​1.7 per cent to US$4,130.27 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery climbed 1.6 per cent to US$4,139.60 an ounce.

Currencies and bonds

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

The day range on the loonie was 71.49 US cents to 71.73 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.92 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.3957 per US$1.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, slid 0.09 per cent to 101.48.

The euro edged up 0.03 per cent to US$1.1234. The British pound declined 0.08 per cent to US$1.3462.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.882 per cent.

Economic news

Japan services and composite PMI

Germany factory orders

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Oct. 31. Estimate is 196,000, up 2,000 from the previous week.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. productivity for Q3. Consensus is an annualized rate rise of 2.7 per cent with a 0.2-per-cent decline in unit labour costs.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. global supply chain pressure index for October.

10:30 a.m. ET: Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem and senior deputy Carolyn Rogers appear before the Standing Senate Committee on Banking, Commerce and the Economy.

Also: Canada’s federal budget is released.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press