Equities
World stocks climbed as traders eyed European elections with U.K. voters heading to the polls and France set for a second round of voting on Sunday.
Canada’s main stock index hovered near four-week highs amid broad-based sectoral gains. The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.02 per cent at 22,227.18 in morning trading.
U.S. markets were closed for the Independence Day holiday, making for thin trading as investors waited for results of the U.K. national election – forecasted to be a landslide win for the Labour Party over the Conservatives, who have held power for 14 years.
Michael Metcalfe, head of macro strategy at State Street Global Markets, said investors are going into the election “quite neutral,” partly because political risk has surged in France, which holds the second round of its parliamentary elections on Sunday, and in the United States ahead of its Presidential vote in November.
“The U.K., oddly, has ended up with a neutral position in the middle,” Metcalfe said. “Also, I don’t think at any point has the result (of the election) been in any doubt.”
The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.44 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.78 per cent, Germany’s DAX increased 0.27 per cent and France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.61 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.82 per cent higher at 40,913.65, surpassing its record high on a rally led by technology stocks. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was up 0.28 per cent at the close.
Commodities
Oil prices for Brent crude held above US$87 a barrel on Thursday, down about 0.3 per cent but still hovering near their highest level since late April.
West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 0.5 per cent to US$83.48 per barrel in trade thinned by the U.S. Independence Day holiday.
Oil prices had earlier dropped by as much as 83 cents, but the dip was expected not to last given dollar weakness and a brighter outlook for U.S. fuel demand, said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.
Spot gold was unchanged at US$2,357.78 per ounce.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar gained on its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 73.28 US cents to 73.48 US cents. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.38 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, lost 0.24 per cent to 105.15.
The euro gained 0.19 per cent to US$1.0811. The British pound increased 0.16 per cent to US$1.2764.
Economic news
U.S. markets closed
Germany factory orders
(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for June.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press