Equities
Global markets were mostly lower ahead of U.S. and European inflation data later this week that could signal the timing and number of interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve and European Central Bank this year.
On Wall Street, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq opened higher after a holiday-extended weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 40.6 points or 0.10 per cent at the open to 39,028.99. The S&P 500 rose 11.2 points or 0.21 per cent to 5,315.91, while the Nasdaq Composite rose 67.5 points or 0.40 per cent to 16,988.315.
Traders were keeping an eye on the shift to a shorter settlement in U.S. trading to one day from two.
Canada’s main stock index fell at the open, led by losses in industrials shares. The S&P/TSX Composite Index was down 47.3 points, or 0.21 per cent, at 22,326.08.
In Canada, investors are taking in results from Bank of Nova Scotia, the second of Canada’s Big Six banks to report second-quarter earnings.
Scotiabank has reported second-quarter profit that beat analyst expectations but fell from the same period last year as the lender set aside more money for loans that could default, offsetting a boost from its capital markets and wealth divisions.
Tuesday’s analyst upgrades and downgrades
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.25 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.32 per cent, Germany’s DAX was flat and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.67 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.11 per cent lower at 38,855.37, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.03 per cent on the day at 18,821.16.
Commodities
Global oil prices steadied as the prospect of OPEC+ maintaining oil supply curbs at its June 2 meeting and hopes of strong U.S. summer fuel demand balanced concern about higher-for-longer U.S. interest rates.
The July contract for Brent crude rose 7 US cents or 0.08 per cent to $83.17 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at US$78.92, up US$1.20 or 1.56 per cent, from Friday’s close, having traded through yesterday’s U.S. holiday without a settlement.
“Despite the indisputably brighter mood seen in the last two days, interest rate concerns will most plausibly act as a (brake) on further attempts to send oil prices meaningfully higher in the immediate future,” said Tamas Varga of broker PVM.
In other commodities, gold prices slipped with investors booking profits after a recent rally. Spot gold fell 0.3 per cent to US$2,344.20 per ounce after rising 0.7 per cent on yesterday.
Currencies and bonds
The U.S. dollar edged down on Tuesday, but remained in tight ranges against peers, while the loonie strengthened against the greenback
The day range on the loonie was 73.32 US cents to 73.45 US cents in the early premarket period. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.09 per cent against its U.S. counterpart over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, was down 0.11 per cent to 104.44, for a 1.7-per-cent decline on a monthly basis.
The euro was flat at US$1.0868. Britain’s pound rose over a two-month high at US$1.2783.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note rose to 4.473 per cent.
Other corporate news
A lawyer for Red Lobster Canada, Inc. says he will ask an Ontario court today to recognize and enforce the chain’s U.S. bankruptcy protection proceedings, a process which documents show could include selling Canadian assets.
OpenAI has formed a safety and security committee that will be led by board members, including CEO Sam Altman, as it begins training its next artificial intelligence model, the AI startup said on Tuesday.
Economic news
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian industrial product and raw materials price indexes for April. Estimates are month-over-month increases of 0.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent, respectively.
(9 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index (20 city) for March. The Street is expecting an increase of 0.3 per cent from February and 7.3 per cent year-over-year.
(9 a.m. ET) U.S. FHFA House Price Index for March. Consensus is a month-over-month rise of 0.5 per cent and year-over-year jump of 7.0 per cent.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence for May.
(10:30 a.m. ET) U.S. Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity for May.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press