Equities
Global markets trended upward while Hong Kong shares were on the verge of three-year highs as investors cheered the business leaders’ meeting with President Xi Jinping.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher as investors focused on potential tariff developments and the U.S. Federal Reserve’s interest-rate strategy following last week’s drop in Treasury yields. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.08 per cent 44,583.91, the S&P 500 gained 0.11 per cent to 6,121.6, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.32 per cent to 20,090.554 at the bell.
the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.1 per cent higher at 25,511.31 as investors assessed January inflation data. The consumer price index rose a notch higher to an annualized 1.9 per cent from December. On a monthly basis, CPI was up 0.1 per cent.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Dream Industrial REIT, RioCan REIT, Gibson Energy Inc., Sandstorm Gold Ltd. and SSR Mining Inc.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Occidental Petroleum Corp. and Arista Networks Inc.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.42 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.16 per cent, Germany’s DAX was up 0.19 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.3 per cent.
“When you see such a strong momentum, you tend to see a pullback just to stabilize that momentum... you may see some profit-taking,” said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.25 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.59 per cent.
Commodities
Oil lost early gains and prices were back near their previous close in the face of uncertainty over how supply will be affected by Ukraine-Russia peace talks, international trade tariffs and OPEC+ crude output.
Brent crude futures were down 4 US cents at US$75.18 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 43 US cents to US$71.17 a barrel.
“The overriding theme driving oil prices lately has been around supply expectations. With the weakness in prices over the past weeks, news of a drone strike on Kazakhstan’s export pipeline in Russia has provided the catalyst for some bearish sentiment to unwind,” IG market strategist Yeap Jun Rong said.
In other commodities, spot gold climbed 0.6 per cent to $2,913.79 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.9 per cent to US$2,925.50.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 70.35 US cents to 70.53 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.79 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.42 per cent to 107.03.
The euro slid 0.31 per cent to US$1.0454. The British pound declined 0.25 per cent to US$1.2594.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.522 per cent.
Economic news
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s CPI for January. The inflation numbers matched Street estimates of a rise of 0.1 per cent from December and up 1.9 per cent year-over-year.
(9 a.m. ET) Canada’s existing home sales and average prices for January. Estimates are year-over-year increases of 6.5 per cent and 5.0 per cent, respectively.
(9 a.m. ET) Canada’s MLS Home Price Index for January. Estimate is a rise of 0.7 per cent from the same period a year ago.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. NAHB Housing Market Index for February.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press