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Equities

Global markets drifted with investors reluctant to make bets ahead of the hotly contested U.S. election.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened down 0.29 per cent at 24,644.26, hurt by mining stocks, ahead of the Bank of Canada’s interest-rate announcement this morning. The central bank cut its key interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.75 per cent, as expected.

Wall Street’s main indexes opened lower, pressured by rising Treasury yields and as investors focused on earnings from companies. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.52 per cent to 42,702.24, the S&P 500 slipped 0.29 per cent to 5,834.5, and the Nasdaq Composite 0.38 per cent to 18,502.06 at the bell.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Canadian Pacific Kansas City Ltd., West Fraser Timber Co Ltd. and Whitecap Resources Inc.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from AT&T Inc., Boeing Co., Coca-Cola Co., International Business Machines Corp., Newmont Corp., Tesla Inc., T-Mobile US Inc. and Waste Connections Inc.

With less than two weeks to go before the U.S. election on Nov. 5, investors are girding for volatility in the markets.

Donald Trump’s “improving election odds are also tempering market expectations for the [Federal Reserve] to continue easing into 2025, and the possibility of the Fed moving to the sidelines for six months next year cannot be ruled out,” said Prashant Newnaha, a senior Asia-Pacific rates strategist at TD Securities.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.32 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.56 per cent, Germany’s DAX gave back 0.19 per cent and France’s CAC 40 dropped 0.64 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.8 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.27 per cent.

Commodities

Oil prices fell after industry data showed U.S. crude inventories swelled more than expected, though declines were capped as the market watched diplomatic efforts in the Middle East after Israel continued attacks on Gaza and Lebanon.

Brent crude futures dropped 1.5 per cent to US$74.90 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures shed 1.53 per cent to US$70.64 a barrel.

“The market continues to wait for Israel’s response to Iran’s missile attack,” ING analysts said, adding the price strength yesterday was possibly due to the lack of outcome from U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s latest visit to Israel.

In other commodities, spot gold gained 1 per cent to US$2,750.87 an ounce, after hitting an all-time high of US$2,758.37 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures were up 0.2 per cent at US$2,765.

Currencies and bonds

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.20 US cents to 72.39 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 2.62 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, advanced 0.44 per cent to 104.53, as traders repositioned for a more moderate pace of rate cuts from the Fed than they had seen a few months ago.

The euro declined 0.23 per cent to US$1.0776. The British pound eased 0.22 per cent to US$1.2955.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.244 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Other corporate news

Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg has laid out a turnaround plan, calling for a “fundamental culture change” at the struggling plane maker as its quarterly losses surged to US$6-billion due to a crippling strike.

AT&T gained more wireless subscribers than expected in the third quarter, driven by the steady adoption of its higher-tier unlimited plans that come with perks including increased hotspot data.

Coca-Cola says it expects annual organic sales at high-end of its previous range after posting a surprise quarterly rise on growing demand for its sodas and juices in the U.S., India and South Korea.

Economic news

Euro zone consumer confidence

G20 finance ministers and central bank governors meet in Washington (through Thursday)

(9:45 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada policy announcement and monetary policy report with press conference to follow.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. existing home sales for September. Consensus is an annualized rate rise of 1.0 per cent.

(10 a.m. ET) ECB president Christine Lagarde speaks in Washington.

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Beige Book is released.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press

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