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

Equities

Global markets were cautious as the prospect of political deadlock in France took the shine off optimism about an early U.S. interest rate cut.

Wall Street futures were broadly flat to start a week in which Federal Reserve chairman Jerome Powell’s testimony and U.S. inflation data will top the agenda.

TSX futures were also flat amid weaker commodity prices.

The earnings calendar is quiet on both sides of the border.

“It will be difficult for France to form a government and as the most likely potential outcome is now some arrangement between parts of the left and Macron,” said Holger Schmiedling, chief economist at Berenberg.

“This could mean some reform reversals rather than further reforms. The outcome I would say is less bad than could have been the case.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was last up 0.4 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.28 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.37 per cent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.24 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.32 per cent lower at 40,780.70, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.55 per cent to 17,524.06.

Commodities

Oil prices slid after rising for four weeks, as the prospect of a ceasefire deal in Gaza eased tensions in the Middle East, while investors assessed potential disruption to U.S. energy supplies from Hurricane Beryl.

Brent crude futures were down 0.77 per cent at US$85.87 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at US$82.16 a barrel, down 1.2 per cent.

“If anything concrete comes from the ceasefire talks, it will take some of geopolitical bid out of the market for now,” said IG analyst Tony Sycamore based in Sydney.

In other commodities, gold prices slipped after bullion hit a more than one-month high in the previous session on rising bets of U.S. interest rate cuts in September.

Spot gold fell 0.6 per cent to US$2,377.75 an ounce and U.S. gold futures eased 0.5 per cent to US$2,385.50.

Currencies and bonds

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

The day range on the loonie was 73.26 US cents to 73.42 US cents in the early premarket period. The Canadian dollar was up about 1 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, inched higher to 104.89.

The euro slipped 0.02 per cent to US$1.0838. The British pound climbed 0.12 per cent to US$1.2830.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.313 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Economic news

3 pm ET: U.S. consumer credit

With Reuters and The Canadian Press