Equities
Canada’s main stock index edged higher at Monday’s opening bell helped by materials and energy stocks. On Wall Street, key indexes were also modestly positive at the start of trading on optimism over upcoming talks to raise the U.S. debt ceiling.
At 9:34 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 22.98 points, or 0.11 per cent, at 20,442.6.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 20.59 points, or 0.06 per cent, at the open to 33,321.21.
The S&P 500 opened higher by 2.57 points, or 0.06 per cent, at 4,126.65, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 16.42 points, or 0.13 per cent, to 12,301.17 at the opening bell.
Markets will have an eye on talks this week about raising the U.S. debt ceiling to avoid an historic default.
“The meeting that was supposed to take place between [U.S. President Joe} Biden and [House speaker Kevin] McCarthy on Friday was postponed to this week,” Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said.
“The latter has been partly taken as a sign that the staff level negotiations progress, and that an eventual agreement on spending could pave the way for an agreement on debt ceiling.”
“But nothing is less sure, and the debt ceiling suspense will likely continue until the last minute, keeping investors cautious, looking for safety in long-term U.S. sovereign bonds and gold.”
In Canada, investors will get a reading on April inflation on Tuesday morning. The annual rate of inflation eased to 4.3 per cent in March after peaking as high as 8.1 per cent last year. Economists are forecasting that the annual rate of inflation will tick lower to 4.2 per cent in April.
“The CPI report is likely to show a further deceleration year-over-year on the headline and the BoC’s preferred core measures,” Alvin Tan, Asia FX strategist with RBC, said, noting that the release of the central bank’s Financial System Review this week is also likely to be more closely watched than usual given the ongoing stress in the U.S. regional banking section.
Early Monday, Canada’s housing sector also came into focus with the release of April sales and price figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
CREA said national home sales jumped 11.3 per cent month-over-month in April. Compared with the same month a year earlier, actual, not seasonally adjusted, sales were down 19.5 per cent. The MLS Home Price Index climbed 1.6 per cent month-over-month but was down 12.3 per cent year-over-year.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.31 per cent by midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 advanced 0.40 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.13 per cent and 0.27 per cent, respectively.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished up 0.81 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.75 per cent.
Commodities
Crude prices steadied in early trading as uncertainty over demand in China and the United States continues to weigh on sentiment.
The day range on Brent was US$73.49 to US$74.51 in the early premarket period. The range on West Texas Intermediate was US$69.41 to US$70.42.
Both benchmarks recorded a fourth week of losses last week, the longest losing streak since 2022.
“With the uneven re-opening in China and concerns that the U.S is facing a growth slowdown at a time when the X-date for the debt ceiling is rapidly approaching, topped off by a rally in the U.S dollar, market sentiment towards crude oil will remain tepid at best,” IG analyst Tony Sycamore said.
Markets are also looking ahead to the next move by the OPEC+ group. The group said last month that some members that would cut output further by around 1.16 million barrels per day, according to Reuters. However, Iraq has said it doesn’t expect the group to make further cuts at its June meeting.
In other commodities, gold prices advanced with uncertainty over the economic outlook and U.S. debt ceiling talks boosting its safe-haven appeal.
Spot gold was up 0.4 per cent at US$22,018.76 per ounce early Monday morning, after falling for three sessions. U.S. gold futures rose 0.2 per cent to US$2,023.60.
Currencies
The Canadian dollar was higher, helped by steadying crude prices and risk sentiment, while its U.S. counterpart pulled back slightly from a five-week high.
The day range on the loonie was 73.21 US cents to 74.05 US cents in the predawn period.
There were no major Canadian economic releases due Monday, with markets now looking ahead to Tuesday’s inflation report.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, was down 0.04 per cent at 102.64 early Monday morning.
Earlier in the session, the index hit its best level in five weeks of 102.75.
The euro was up 0.27 per cent against the U.S. dollar on Monday at US$1.088, rebounding after falling 1.54 per cent the previous week, according to figures from Reuters.
In other currencies, Turkey’s lira hit a two-month low as weekend elections looked headed for a runoff.
The U.S. dollar was last up 0.38 per cent at 19.654 Turkish lira after earlier jumping to 19.7 for the first time since March 10, when it hit a record high of 19.8 on a volatile trading day, Reuters reported.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was up at 3.485 per cent early Monday morning.
More company news
Centerra Gold Inc. reported a US$73.5-million loss in its first quarter compared with a profit of US$89.4-million in the same quarter last year. The Toronto-based gold miner, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, says its loss amounted to 34 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a profit of 30 cents per diluted share a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter totalled US$226.5 million, down from US$295.2 million in the same quarter last year.
Australian gold miner Newcrest Mining Ltd said on Monday it would back Newmont Corp’s A$26.2-billion (US$17.8-billion) takeover offer in one of the world’s largest buyouts so far this year. The deal, subject to approval from shareholders of both companies and other regulatory hurdles, would lift Newmont’s gold output to nearly double its nearest rival, Barrick Gold Corp, and catapult the miner past Freeport McMoRan to become the largest U.S. gold and copper producer by market capitalization. Newcrest shareholders would receive 0.400 Newmont share for each share held, with an implied value of A$29.27 a share, higher than a previous exchange ratio of 0.380 that Newcrest’s board rejected in February. -Reuters
Economic news
(8:15 a.m. ET) Canadian housing starts for April.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian wholesale trade for March.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. Empire State Manufacturing Survey for May.
(9 a.m. ET) Canadian existing home sales and average prices for April.
(9 a.m. ET) Canada’s MLS home price index for April.
(10:30 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada’s Financial Systems Survey for Spring 2023.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press