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Equities

Global markets edged higher in cautious trading after sharp falls yesterday driven by Big Tech while investors assess U.S. jobs data, although an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week is largely a given.

Wall Street indexes opened higher, as Amazon’s strong earnings mitigated Apple’s weaker China sales and investors weighed a sharp reduction in U.S. jobs growth in October.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.25 per cent to 41,869.82, the S&P 500 gained 0.31 per cent to 5,723.22​, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.52 per cent to 18,189.667 at the bell.

The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.46 per cent higher at 24,268.19, led by energy shares tracking a jump in oil prices.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Enbridge Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd. and Magna International Inc.

On Wall Street, markets are eyeing earnings from Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp.

U.S. Big Oil companies “will certainly post weak numbers due to weak oil and gas prices as did their European peers throughout this week,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, wrote in a note. “But, given that the expectations are quite low, beating them is easier.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.84 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.9 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.62 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.71 per cent.

In Asia, Japan‘s Nikkei closed 2.63 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 0.93 per cent.

Only one show in town: World market themes for the week ahead

Commodities

Oil prices extended gains to pare weekly losses, after reports Iran was preparing a retaliatory strike on Israel from Iraq in the coming days.

Brent crude futures were up 2.4 per cent at US$74.53 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude rose 2.5 per cent to US$71.02.

IG analyst Tony Sycamore said that all bets are off next week ahead of the U.S. election and China’s National People’s Congress standing committee meeting.

“I think it will depend on who wins the U.S. election and what fiscal stimulus details, if any, come from the NPC standing committee meeting,” he added.

In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.1 per cent to US$2,745.99 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.4 per cent to US$2,758.70.

Currencies and bonds

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

The day range on the loonie was 71.71 US cents to 71.82 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 2.5 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.1 per cent to 104.08.

The euro declined 0.15 per cent to US$1.0869. The British pound advanced 0.19 per cent to US$1.2923.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.292 per cent.

Corporate news

Enbridge has posted a more than twofold jump in its third-quarter profit, as the pipeline operator benefited from steady oil demand.

Air Canada has raised its annual core profit forecast and reported third-quarter profit rose to $2.04-billion or $5.38 per share from $1.25-billion or $3.08 per share a year earlier.

Magna International has cut its guidance for its full year and reported net income attributable to the company of US$484-million for its third quarter, up from US$394-million a year earlier.

Exxon Mobil has surpassed Wall Street’s third-quarter profit estimate, boosted by strong oil output in its first full quarter that includes volumes from U.S. shale producer Pioneer Natural Resources.

Chevron Corp also beat estimates for third-quarter profit, helped by higher oil and gas output, but overall earnings fell compared to the year-ago level.

Economic news

Japan manufacturing PMI

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. non-farm payrolls for October, which increased by 12,000 jobs compared with forecasts of a 120,000-job gain. The unemployment rate held at 4.1 per cent, as expected.

(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P manufacturing PMI for October, which rose to a 20-month high.

(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P manufacturing PMI for October.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. construction spending for September. The Street is forecasting a flat reading month-over-month.

Also: Canadian and U.S. auto sales for October.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press

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