Equities
Global markets were mostly higher as investors looked toward this week’s U.S. inflation data to gauge how far the Federal Reserve will cut interest rates.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher following heavy losses last week, as investors remained optimistic about soft landing prospects for the U.S. economy.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.52 per cent to 40,555.11, the S&P 500 gained 0.62 per cent to 5,442.07, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.87 per cent to 16,835.674 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.82 per cent higher at 22,967.95 in a broad-based rally led by technology and mining shares.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Oracle Corp.
“The U.S. [consumer price index] data is due Wednesday, and is expected to show a further slowdown in the U.S. headline inflation to 2.6 per cent in August, from 2.9 per cent printed a month earlier,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, wrote in a note. “A sufficiently soft data will keep the expectation of Fed cuts on the table, but won’t move mountains, unless we see a big surprise to the upside.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.64 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.64 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.52 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.69 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.48 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.42 per cent.
Commodities
Oil futures made gains as a potential hurricane approaching the U.S. Gulf Coast helped oil prices to recover some of the previous week’s heavy losses.
Brent crude rose 0.23 per cent to US$71.22 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were up 0.28 per cent at US$67.86.
“A small recovery in prices is under way this morning, inspired by hurricane warnings that might threaten the U.S. Gulf Coast, but the wider conversation remains on where demand will come from and what OPEC+ can do,” said PVM analyst John Evans.
In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.2 per cent to US$2,502.29 an ounce, and U.S. gold futures were up 0.3 per cent at US$2,524.50.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 73.63 US cents to 73.79 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.32 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, advanced 0.38 per cent to 101.56.
The euro slid 0.36 per cent to US$1.1046. The British pound fell 0.27 per cent to US$1.3097.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 3.729 per cent ahead.
Other corporate news
Air Canada says it is preparing to wind down operations ahead of an “increasingly likely” strike or lockout as contract talks with its pilots union yield no signs of a deal.
The carrier and the Air Line Pilots Association, which represents 5,200 pilots at Air Canada and Rouge, have been in negotiations for more than a year. Both sides are in a legal strike or lockout position on Wed., Sept. 18, provided they issue 72 hours notice.
Economic news
China CPI, PPI, aggregate yuan financing, new yuan losses and trade surplus
Japan real GDP and bank lending
Germany retail sales
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. wholesale inventories for July.
(3 p.m. ET) U.S. consumer credit for July.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press