Equities
World stocks edged lower as uncertainty across major economies added to headwinds for investors, while a global tech outage hitting services from airlines, banks and financial services capped a turbulent week in markets.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower as investors continued to move away from heavily weighted chip and megacap tech stocks, while assessing the impact of the tech outage.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.18 per cent to 40,592.35, the S&P 500 slipped 0.02 per cent to 5,543.37, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.20 per cent to 17,835.59.
Canada’s resource-heavy S&P/TSX composite index fell 0.4 per cent to 22,636.84 at the bell, as losses in crude and metal prices dragged energy and mining stocks, respectively.
In Canada, investors are eyeing results from Choice Properties REIT.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Travelers and Halliburton.
“Investors are already on edge for this tech rotation and this global outage adds a further dose of uncertainty,” said Ben Laidler, head of equity strategy at Bradesco BBI.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was 0.61 per cent lower in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gave back 0.53 per cent, Germany’s DAX fell 0.76 per cent and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.67 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed down 0.16 per cent, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.03 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices were little changed as a strong U.S. dollar and concern over top oil importer China’s economy were countered by a tighter supply outlook.
Brent crude prices fell 0.1 per cent to US$85.02 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 0.3 per cent to US$82.65 a barrel.
“Crude oil was under pressure amid a broader risk-off tone across markets,” ANZ analyst Daniel Hynes said.
In other commodities, gold dipped more than 1 per cent, as the dollar firmed and some investors locked in profits following the metal’s recent surge on increasing expectations of U.S. interest rate cuts in September.
Spot gold was down 1.7 per cent at US$2,404.34 an ounce, while U.S. gold futures fell 2 per cent to US$2,406.50.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart, which distanced itself from a four-month low on strong economic data.
The day range on the loonie was 72.89 US cents to 73.15 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.09 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.15 per cent to 104.33.
The euro was flat at US$1.0866. The British pound fell 0.16 per cent to US$1.2922.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.205 per cent.
Economic news
8:30 am ET: Canadian retail sales for May, which fell more than expected as consumers spent less at supermarkets and grocery retailers, data showed.
8:30 am ET: Canadian industrial and raw materials price index
8:30 am ET: Canada household credit and mortgage credit for May
With Reuters and The Canadian Press