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Equities
Canada’s main stock index rose at Monday’s open alongside improved global sentiment. On Wall Street, key indexes also started higher in the wake of another losing week.
At 9:31 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 133.26 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 20,923.99.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 132.34 points, or 0.40 per cent, at the open to 33,032.04.
The S&P 500 opened higher by 26.18 points, or 0.64 per cent, at 4,134.72, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 187.59 points, or 1.56 per cent, to 12,200.33 at the opening bell.
This week, Wall Street will be awaiting the latest U.S. inflation figures on Friday. Those come ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting and another expected rate increase.
“As we look ahead to this week’s U.S. CPI numbers for May, the main worry for investors is that in their increasing urgency to contain upside risk in inflation, central banks tighten monetary policy too quickly and tip the global economy into recession,” Michael Hewson, chief market analyst with CMC Markets U.K., said.
“It is becoming increasingly obvious from the tone of a number of Fed policymakers that a pause in the U.S. rate hiking cycle appears unlikely at the moment,” he said.
In Canada, investors will get April international trade numbers on Tuesday followed by May jobs numbers at the end of the week.
“Friday’s May employment report is expected to show a gain of 15,000 jobs, which would match April’s increase,” Alvin Tan, Asia FX strategist with RBC, said.
“Employment growth has slowed dramatically in recent months as strong labour demand is tempered by a reduction in the number of workers available for hire as evidenced by April’s unemployment rate of 5.2 per cent - the lowest since at least 1976.”
On the corporate side, Rogers Communications Inc. filed its response to the Competition Bureau’s attempt to block its merger with Shaw Communications on Friday after the close of markets. The Globe’s Alexandra Posadzki reports that Rogers says Canada’s Commissioner of Competition has taken an “unreasonable” position and has failed to demonstrate that Rogers’ $26-billion takeover attempt of Shaw Communications would substantially reduce competition in the wireless market.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 1.03 per cent by midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 1.31 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 advanced 1.21 per cent and 1.35 per cent, respectively.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished 0.56-per-cent higher. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng jumped 2.71 per cent on gains in tech shares.
Commodities
Crude prices wavered in early going after Saudi Arabia hiked costs for July crude sales despite an increase in OPEC+ production.
The day range on Brent is US$119.63 to US$121.95. The range on West Texas Intermediate is US$118.96 to US$121. Brent gained 1.8 per cent on Friday while WTI rose 1.7 per cent.
On Sunday, Saudi state oil producer Aramco said Saudi Arabia was raising the July official selling price for its Arab light crude to Asia by US$2.10 from June to a US$6.50 premium versus the average of the Oman and Dubai benchmarks, according to Reuters.
That move came even as OPEC+ members agreed last week to increase output in July and August by 648,000 barrels per day, or 50 per cent more than planned.
However, Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset management, said the initial bounce on the Saudi price hike was offset somewhat by reports that the U.S. may allow more Iranian oil onto global markets to lean against prices ahead of mid-term elections in November.
In other commodities, gold prices edged higher helped by a modest pullback in the U.S. dollar.
Spot gold was up 0.1 per cent at US$1,851.98 per ounce by early Monday morning, while U.S. gold futures rose 0.2 per cent to US$1,854.60.
Currencies
The Canadian dollar was higher, supported by positive risk sentiment and gains in crude prices, while its U.S. counterpart saw slight declines against a group of world currencies.
The day range on the loonie is 79.35 US cents to 79.64 US cents.
“The CAD retains a firm undertone, although firm stocks and robust crude oil (and commodity prices generally) are adding to CAD supports on the session,” Shaun Osborne, chief FX strategist with Scotiabank, said.
“Last week’s Bank of Canada policy decision and communication—a 50bps hike and a clear warning that a more aggressive flight path for rates may be necessary in the next few months—suggest to us that the CAD is poised to strengthen further in the coming weeks as policy expectations are upgraded.”
Traders will get Canadian trade numbers on Tuesday followed by the monthly labour force survey on Friday.
On world markets, the U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, fell 0.1 per cent early Monday morning to 101.99, near its lowest since late April, according to figures from Reuters.
The euro, meanwhile, was up 0.2 per cent against the greenback at US$1.074 ahead of the ECB rate decision later in the week. The European Central Bank isn’t expected to start raising rates until later in the summer.
The yen was trading at 130.73 just off its two-decade low of 131.35 against the U.S. dollar, and at 140.3 close to its seven-year low of 140.36 versus the euro.
The Australian dollar was steady at US$0.7218 on Monday ahead of a central bank policy decision later in the week.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was little changed at 2.957 per cent in the predawn period.
More company news
Starbucks Corp said Howard Schultz would remain the coffee chain’s interim chief executive officer until the end of the first quarter next year, as it looks for a permanent successor.
JetBlue Airways Corp said on Monday the airline has submitted an improved proposal to acquire Spirit Airlines Inc. The proposal offers Spirit’s stockholders superior value and prepayment of US$1.50 per share of the cash consideration, JetBlue said.
Chinese regulators are concluding yearlong probes into Didi Global Inc, Full Truck Alliance Co, and Kanzhun Ltd, and preparing as early as this week to lift a ban on their adding new users, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.
Elon Musk has asked Twitter Inc for data and information on spam and fake accounts in order to complete his US$44-billion acquisition of the social media network, the billionaire said in a letter to the company on Monday. “Musk believes the company is actively resisting and thwarting his information rights,” according to the letter by Musk’s lawyers.
Economic news
China PMI and foreign reserves
With Reuters and The Canadian Press