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

Equities

Global stocks held near record highs, supported by investor confidence in the prospect of a drop in U.S. interest rates this year.

As expected, the Bank of England kept its main interest rate unchanged at 5.25 per cent ahead of the July 4 election, but gave indications that it may be getting closer to cutting from its 16-year high.

On Wall Street, Nasdaq and S&P 500 futures jumped as Nvidia extended its rally while investors returning from the Juneteenth holiday waited for economic data and commentary from Federal Reserve officials to firm up bets on interest rate cuts this year.

TSX futures were also in positive territory on higher commodity prices.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Empire Co. Ltd. Sobeys parent company is slowing the pace of its e-commerce expansion in a bid to to improve the profitability of its Voilà online service. It also reported a drop in fourth-quarter profit and a dividend boost.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Accenture PLC and Kroger Co.

“High and persistent service inflation has been a persistent vex for the BoE and expect to hear about it during their press conference today,” Caxton strategist David Stritch said.

“We still feel that this is a bank that wanted to cut six months ago and fully expect an implication of a cut in August, with the door open for more to come after,” he said.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.46 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.32 per cent, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.5 per cent and France’s CAC 40 added 0.92 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.16 per cent higher at 38,633.02, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.52 per cent to 18,335.32.

Commodities

Brent oil futures were steady as the market awaited U.S. inventory data.

August Brent crude rose 0.3 per cent to US$85.32 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures for August delivery were up 0.1 per cent at US$80.77.

In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.5 per cent at US$2,340.12 an ounce, after hitting a two-week high earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures rose 0.3 per cent to US$2,353.70.

Currencies and bonds

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.87 US cents to 72.97 US cents in the early premarket period. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.1 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.2 per cent to 105.46 after a volatile 10 days that has seen mixed signals from the U.S. economy and European markets rocked by French political uncertainty.

The euro fell 0.19 per cent to US$1.0725. The British pound dropped 0.09 per cent to US$1.2707.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note inched higher to 4.254 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Other corporate news

The threat of strike action by unionized mechanics at WestJet has been dropped after both sides agreed to return to the bargaining table.

Economic news

Bank of England’s monetary policy announcement (7 a.m. ET)

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s new housing price index for May. Estimate is a decline of 0.1 per cent from April and down 0.2 per cent year-over-year.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of June 15. Estimate is 236,000, down 6,000 from the previous week.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. housing starts for May. The Street is projecting an annualized rate rise of 1.1 per cent.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. building permits for May. Consensus is an annualized rate rise of 1.4 per cent.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. current account deficit for Q1.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. Philadelphia Fed Index for June.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press