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

Equities

​A steep rout in technology stocks rippled through markets on fears that the Democrats’ victory in the U.S. midterm elections ​would increase regulatory scrutiny of AI and slow the data centre buildout.

Wall Street futures were mixed with the Dow pointing lower after yesterday’s rout wiped nearly US$3-trillion off the ⁠market value ​for S&P 500 companies and the Nasdaq notched its deepest one-day drop in 19 months.

TSX futures were in positive territory after yesterday’s 2-per-cent declined as investors eyed jobs numbers later this morning.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Enbridge Inc., Brookfield Asset Management Ltd., Brookfield Infrastructure Partners LP, Emera Inc., Telus Corp., Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., Atco Ltd., Constellation Software Inc. and Canadian Utilities Ltd.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Moderna Inc.

“We view Thursday’s selloff as reactionary, not a fundamental reset, driven by a collision of concerns around AI spend, policy and inflation,” said Jane Gibbons, equity strategist at Jefferies.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 1.44 per cent, Germany’s DAX fell 1.18 per cent and France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.97 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 5.96 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.27 per cent.

Commodities

Oil prices were set for ​a sharp weekly fall ‌after the midterm election losses of U.S. President Donald Trump’s Republican Party raised hopes of a de-escalation in the ⁠U.S.-Israeli ​war on Iran, though attacks on vessels in the Middle East continue to provide a floor for the market.

Brent crude ‌futures for January were down 1.22 per cent to US$97.09 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate futures (WTI) dropped 1.3 per cent to US$89.34S.

In other commodities, spot gold fell 1 per cent to US$4,047.19 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery dropped 1.4 per cent to US$4,056.90.

Currencies and bonds

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

The day range on the loonie was 71.01 US cents to 71.45 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.27 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.4079 per US$1.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.44 per cent to 107.99.

The euro fell 0.44 per cent to US$1.1171. The British pound dropped 0.48 per cent to US$1.3386.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 5.846 per cent.

Economic news

China foreign reserves

Japan real cash earnings

Euro zone retail sales

Germany industrial production

8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian employment for October. The Street expects a gain of 0.1 per cent (or 18,000) jobs with the unemployment rate remaining 6.5 per cent and average hourly wages rising 2.4 per cent year-over-year.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. nonfarm payrolls for October. Consensus is a gain of 60,000 jobs with the unemployment rate staying at 4.2 per cent and average hourly earnings up 0.3 per cent (or 2.9 per cent year-over-year.

10 a.m. ET: Canada’s Ivey PMI for October.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey for November (preliminary reading).

3 p.m. ET: U.S. consumer credit for September.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press