Equities
Global markets steadied, with Asian and European shares taking their cue from a Wall Street bounce back yesterday after U.S. jobs data eased recession concerns. Major indexes have regained much of the ground lost in the global selloff earlier in the week.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower on the last day of a turbulent week, while Federal Reserve officials’ dovish signals following the labour report market kept losses in check.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.10 per cent to 39,408.06, the S&P 500 slid 0.09 per cent to 5,314.66, and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 0.14 per cent to 16,636.522 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.13 per cent higher at 22,254.25, helped by an uptick in commodity prices.
Investors were also parsing data that showed Canada’s economy unexpectedly shed a net 2,800 job in July while the unemployment rate remained at 30-month high of 6.4 per cent.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., AtkinsRealis Group Inc., Cineplex Inc., Saputo Inc., Constellation Software Inc., Emera Inc and Canopy Growth Corp.
“The prospect of better-than-feared U.S. growth and a weaker yen constrain the fundamental and technical risks that inspired the extreme volatility experienced at the start of the week,” said Kyle Rodda, a senior financial market analyst at Capital.com. “It’s unlikely that the markets have turned the corner yet.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.19 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.13 per cent, Germany’s DAX gave back 0.16 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was flat.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.56 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 1.17 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices edged higher, heading for a weekly gain of more than 3 per cent as U.S. jobs data calmed demand concerns and fears of a widening Middle East conflict persisted.
Brent crude futures rose 0.3 per cent to US$79.38 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 0.3 per cent to US$76.45 a barrel.
In other commodities, gold prices eased and were headed for a weekly decline.
Spot gold was down 0.1 per cent to US$2,425.34 an ounce, after rising more than 1 per cent yesterday. U.S. gold futures were unchanged at US$2,464.60.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. dollar counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.69 US cents to 72.90 US cents in the early premarket period. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.72 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, lost 0.06 per cent to 103.14.
The euro was up slightly to US$1.092. The British pound slid 0.14 per cent to US$1.2731.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 3.935 per cent.
Other corporate news
Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp says it is selling its renewable energy business, excluding hydropower operations, to a wholly owned subsidiary of LS Power for up to US$2.5-billion.
Economic news
China CPI, PPI, aggregate yuan loans and new yuan loans
Germany CPI
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian employment for July, which registered an unexpected drop of 2,800 jobs. The Street had projected a month-over-month gain of 29,400 jobs.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press