TSX futures drop amid rise in oil prices; U.S. midterm elections ahead

Futures connected to Canada’s main stock index pointed lower on Tuesday, as investors assessed a renewed jump in oil prices and looked ahead to the U.S. midterm elections.

By 07:10 ET (11:10 GMT), the S&P/TSX 60 index standard futures contract had fallen by 26 points, or 1.2%.

On Monday, the S&P/TSX composite index advanced after a short-lived fall in crude prices relieved some worries over energy-fueled inflationary pressures, while a gain in metal mining shares also aided sentiment.

Traders will be eyeing any potential comments on monetary policy from Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem when he appears before a House of Commons finance committee this week. Markets are now pricing in a rate hike by the BoC prior to the end of the year, according to LSEG data cited by Reuters.

S&P futures dip

Elsewhere, U.S. stock index futures hovered around both sides of the flatline. By 07:24 ET, the S&P 500 futures contract had dropped by 8 points, or 0.1%, and Dow futures had fallen by 381 points, or 0.7%. Nasdaq 100 futures gained 94 points, or 0.3%. The main averages on Wall Street ended in mixed fashion on Monday.

The long-awaited U.S. midterms are now in sharp focus. At play is control over the two chambers of the U.S. Congress, which is currently dominated by majorities from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.

Affordability is set to be a central issue as Americans head to the polls. Energy prices have spiked since the beginning of Trump’s war with Iran, fueling an increase in the costs of items like gasoline and diesel, although strong consumer spending and artificial intelligence investments have helped prop up wider U.S. growth.

Oil prices edged higher Tuesday after falling sharply in the previous session, as a reported U.S. strike on Iran’s Qeshm Island revived concerns about disruptions to recovering Middle East supplies. Gold prices, meanwhile, declined.

Some voters have also expressed concerns over the impact of AI on jobs and the proliferation of huge data centers needed to underpin cutting-edge AI systems. Trump has been a champion of the AI industry, arguing that the U.S. must beat rival China in the race to harness the technology.

"Welcome to midterms day and markets go into it again caught in the crosswinds between energy and AI themes," analysts at Deutsche Bank said in a note.

Apple drops amid margin concerns

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) retreated more than 3% in premarket trading after the iPhone-maker forecast slightly below-consensus gross margin for the current quarter, citing mounting headwinds from soaring global memory-chip prices.

Gross margin is expected to be between 45% to 46%, below Street expectations of 46.9%. CEO John Ternus, who took over from Tim Cook in September, said rising memory costs were “unprecedented,” and that prices were likely to increase in this quarter and beyond.

The California-based tech giant also projected a slowdown in revenue at its services segment, partially because of headwinds from unfavorable currency markets, regulations, and a sustained slowdown in mobile gaming.

Still, Apple exceeded top and bottom-line estimates for the September quarter, aided chiefly by strong sales of its new iPhone 18 line. The company’s first foldable phone was also launched to outsized demand in October, although Apple warned that supplies of the device were likely to be constrained in the near-term.

Apple announced a new version of its Siri voice assistance, but offered few cues on its plans to integrate more AI into its services. The company is widely regarded as a large-cap haven amid broader AI jitters, given its relatively low exposure to the technology.

Among other premarket movers, Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR) fell more than 7% as some concerns over future bookings overshadowed otherwise solid earnings from the AI-focused data analytics group.