Equities
Stocks were mixed, with earnings from Meta platforms driving up Wall Street shares and traders keeping central banks in focus.
Wall Street’s main stock indexes opened higher on strong earnings and promising rate-cut signals. At the open, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.18 per cent to 40,916.96, the S&P 500 rose 0.28 per cent to 5,537.84, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.27 per cent to 17,647.032.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index slipped at the open, down 0.29 per cent at 23,044.7, pressured by a drop in energy shares.
In Canada, investors are getting results from energy companies Canadian Natural Resources, TC Energy, Cenovus Energy, as well as clothing makers Canada Goose and Gildan Activewear Inc., and telecom BCE Inc.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from tech giants Apple and Amazon and digesting Wednesday results from Facebook parent Meta Platforms. Tech behemoth Meta surged 7.9 per cent after its second-quarter revenue beat and upbeat third-quarter sales forecast pointed to the possibility that its artificial intelligence costs would be covered, giving a lift to the Communication Services sector.
“It’s very possible that Meta’s spending a little too much on AI, but they think AI is such an important trend, and for the next 15 years it’s going to be the place to be,” said Chris Zaccarelli, chief investment officer for Independent Advisor Alliance.
In central bank news, the Bank of England elected to lower interest rates a day after the U.S. Federal Reserve held rates steady but suggested cuts could come soon.
Traders were parsing comments from U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell that policymakers had a “real discussion” about cutting at the July meeting. Markets have already bet on a September cut and are now wagering on a 10 per cent chance that the Fed may go for a 50 basis points easing that month.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.14 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat, Germany’s DAX decreased by 1.02 per cent and France’s CAC 40 lost 1.23 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s stock index tumbled as the U.S. dollar sank against the yen, with the Nikkei closing down 2.49 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng lost 0.23 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices rose on Thursday, extending gains from the previous session, after the killing of a Hamas leader in Iran raised the threat of a wider Middle East conflict.
Global benchmark Brent crude futures rose 0.9 per cent to US$81.55 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.9 per cent to US$78.63.
The killings of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and a senior Hezbollah military commander in Beirut 24 hours earlier fuelled concern that war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas was turning into a wider Middle East war, which could lead to disruption in oil supply from the region.
“Oil markets are justifiably worried that the assassination of Haniyeh will bring Iran more directly into the war with Israel. And that could put at risk Iran’s oil supply and related infrastructure,” analyst Vivek Dhar at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, wrote in a client note.
A meeting of top OPEC+ ministers kept oil output policy unchanged including a plan to start unwinding one layer of output cuts from October, and repeated that the hike could be paused or reversed if needed.
In other commodities, spot gold was down 0.7 per cent at US$2,432.29 per ounce.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar was flat against its U.S. dollar counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.26 US cents to 72.48 US cents. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.95 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.15 per cent to 104.24.
The euro was down 0.17 per cent to US$1.0808. The British pound lost 0.28 per cent to US$1.2820.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was steady at 4.057 per cent.
Economic news
China’s Caixin manufacturing PMI; Japan manufacturing PMI
Euro area manufacturing PMI and June jobless rate
ECB Economic Bulletin
7 a.m. ET: Bank of England policy announcement and monetary policy report
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. productivity and unit labour costs.
9:30 a.m. ET: S&P global manufacturing PMI
10 a.m. ET: U.S. ISM manufacturing PMI
10 a.m. ET: U.S. construction spending
OPEC+ meeting
Autodata total vehicle sales for July
With Reuters, The Associated Press and The Canadian Press