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

Equities

Global stocks wobbled after a sell-off in chipmaker Nvidia dragged down U.S. tech companies, suggesting some nervousness around the artificial intelligence boom.

Stocks fell in Europe, where France’s upcoming election, set to begin this week, weighed on markets.

On Wall Street, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures pointed higher, while Dow futures were in the red. TSX futures were down, as Canadian stocks were hurt by a decline in crude prices.

In Canada, investors are getting results from convenience store owner Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Investors are also watching for May CPI data from Statistics Canada, which could give insight into future Bank of Canada interest rate moves.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from shipping company FedEx Corp.

Analysts were watching shifts in the AI-related tech frenzy, reflected by moves from Nvidia’s blockbuster stock into other names.

“In all cases, it’s too early to call the end of the Nvidia-mania, but given the high amount of speculation around the stock, we shall see the price action gets worse before it gets better,” said Swissquote analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.27 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 lost 0.25 per cent, Germany’s DAX lagged by 0.94 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was also in the red at 0.69 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.95 per cent at 39,173.15, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.25 per cent, closing at 18,072.90.

Commodities

Oil prices were down slightly following a price rebound. Brent futures were at US$84.77 a barrel, down 0.45 per cent, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI) was down 0.56 per cent to US$81.17.

Recent gains have been driven by escalating geopolitical tensions and expectations of improved fuel demand this summer.

“Front-month Brent prices could push into the upper US$80s in the short term, driven by the confluence of increasing geopolitical risk and bullish fundamentals, steepening the market’s backwardation,” said Rystad Energy analyst Claudio Galimberti.

Gold prices edged higher, with spot gold rising to US$2,335.30 per ounce.

Currencies and bonds

The Canadian dollar was down compared to its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 73.17 US cents to 73.31 US cents in the premarket period. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.12 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, was up 0.07 per cent to 105.55.

The euro dropped slightly by 0.06 per cent to US$1.0730. The British pound gained 0.03 per cent to US$1.2690.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was down slightly at 4.234 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Economic news

Japan machine tool orders

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian CPI for May. The Street is projecting an increase of 0.3 per cent month-over-month (versus 0.5 per cent in April) and a gain of 2.6 per cent year-over-year.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s manufacturing sales for May.

(9 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index (20 city) for April. Consensus is a gain of 0.3 per cent from March and up 7.0 per cent year-over-year.

(9 a.m. ET) U.S. FHFA House Price Index for April. Consensus is a month-over-month rise of 0.5 per cent and a gain of 6.6 per cent year-over-year.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press