Equities
Global markets drifted ahead of U.S. inflation data tomorrow that could influence the size of an expected Federal Reserve interest rate cut next week, while concerns about a faltering Chinese economy dampened the market mood.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher with an eye to the U.S. presidential candidates debate tonight.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.21 per cent to 40,916.5, the S&P 500 gained 0.36 per cent to 5,490.51, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.39 per cent to 16,949.641 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.21 per cent lower at 22,978.62 as crude prices dropped.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from GameStop Corp.
“Market’s attention will shift to politics as Donald Trump and Kamala Harris will face off in a debate today.” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, wrote in a note. “... a Trump win would benefit Big Oil companies, small domestic businesses and cryptocurrencies ... a Harris win would support the ESG and green focused companies, health care, infrastructure and technology.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was little changed in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.34 per cent, Germany’s DAX dipped 0.47 per cent and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.2 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.16 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.22 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices fell as weak Chinese demand offset U.S. supply disruptions from tropical storm Francine and as global oil oversupply risks continued to weigh on the market.
Brent crude futures were down 1.3 per cent to US$70.89 a barrel, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 1.4 per cent to trade at US$67.75 a barrel.
“Chinese trade data has not helped the oil market, it has only reinforced the demand concerns that have been lingering in the market for a while now,” said Warren Patterson, Singapore-based head of commodities strategy at ING.
In other commodities, spot gold was steady at US$2,506.59 an ounce, and U.S. gold futures were little changed at US$2,535.20.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 73.65 US cents to 73.77 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.97 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.06 per cent to 101.61.
The euro inched lower to US$1.1034. The British pound slid 0.02 per cent to US$1.3075.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was little changed at 3.703 per cent ahead.
Economic news
Japan machine toll orders
Germany CPI
England employment
(6 a.m. ET) U.S. NFIB Small Business Economic Trends for Survey for August, which showed confidence fell, reversing the prior month’s jump amid growing uncertainty ahead of the Nov. 5 presidential election and expectations of weak sales.
(8:10 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem speaks at the Canada-U.K. Chamber of Commerce in London (with press conference to follow at 9:30 a.m.) He warned that global trade disruptions could make it harder for the central bank to consistently meet its 2-per-cent inflation target, and it will have to balance the risks of controlling higher prices with ensuring economic growth.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press