Equities
Canada’s main stock index gained at Friday’s opening bell with higher commodities prices lifting energy and materials stocks. Wall Street’s key indexes saw early gains in the wake of solid results from some on the biggest U.S. banks.
At 9:34 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 149.54 points, or 0.77 per cent, at 19,649.78. The index was up 1 per cent for the week heading into Friday’s session.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 102.20 points, or 0.30 per cent, at the open to 33,733.34.
The S&P 500 opened higher by 10.88 points, or 0.25 per cent, at 4,360.49, while the Nasdaq Composite gained 39.37 points, or 0.29 per cent, to 13,613.59 at the opening bell. All three U.S. indexes were positive for the week ahead of Friday’s opening bell.
Earnings move into focus on Friday with third-quarter results from major U.S. lenders JPMorgan, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.
JPMorgan reported higher third-quarter profit as higher interest rates boosted loan income. Profit was US$13.15-billion, or US$4.33 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30. That compares with US$9.74-billion, or US$3.12 per share, a year earlier.
Wells Fargo, meanwhile, reported net income of US$5.77-billion, or US$1.48 per share, in the three months ended Sept. 30, up from US$3.59-billion, or 86 US cents per share, a year earlier. Citi’s net income rose to US$3.5-billion from a year ago, while earnings per share remained stable at US$1.63, beating the consensus estimate of US$1.21 by analysts polled by LSEG.
Shares of all three U.S. banks saw early gains Friday morning.
In Canada, investors got a reading on the country’s real estate market this morning, with the release of existing home sales figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.
CREA said national home sales fell 1.9 per cent month-over-month in September. Compared with the same month a year earlier, activity was up 1.9 per cent. The MLS Home Price Index edged down 0.3 per cent month-over-month but was up 1.1 per cent year-over-year.
Elsewhere, Britain’s antitrust regulator cleared the way for Microsoft’s purchase of “Call of Duty” maker Activision early Friday morning after changes to the deal addressed earlier competition concerns. In August, Activision agreed to sell its streaming rights to Ubisoft Entertainment. Microsoft last month offered remedies to ensure the terms the the sale were enforceable by the regulator, Reuters report. Microsoft closed the deal later Friday morning.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.82 per cent by midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.45 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 lost 1 per cent and 1.01 per cent, respectively.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei finished down 0.55 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slumped 2.33 per cent.
Commodities
Crude prices spiked on supply concerns after the United States tightened its sanction program against Russian crude exports.
The day range on Brent was US$86.28 to US$88.38 in the early premarket period. The range on West Texas Intermediate was US$85.35 to US$85.31. Brent crude is on track for a weekly gain of about 4 per cent while WTI is headed to an increase of more than 2 per cent.
Sentiment was underpinned by news Thursday that the U.S. imposed the first sanctions on owners of tankers carrying Russian oil priced above the G7′s price cap.
“The oil market is going to remain tight going forward and should see the mid-$80s provide major support,” OANDA senior analyst Ed Moya said.
“The risks of strong enforcement on Russian oil price caps or potential deepening of sanctions of Iranian crude will likely keep this oil market tight throughout the winter.”
Also helping prices was OPEC’s latest forecast, which continued to see solid demand on the back of a resilient world economy. The group said global oil demand will rise by 2.25 million barrels per day in 2024, compared with growth of 2.44 million bpd in 2023.
In other commodities, gold prices were firmer and set for their best week in seven months.
Spot gold rose 0.5 per cent to US$1,878.70 per ounce by early Friday morning. U.S. gold futures added 0.5 per cent to US$1,892.80.
“Gold’s short-term outlook still remains bullish given the U.S. is quickly cooling and over all the uncertainty with all the geopolitical risks,” Mr. Moya said.
Currencies
The Canadian dollar firmed slightly while its U.S. counterpart pulled back against a group of currencies after seeing its biggest daily increase since March during the previous session.
The day range on the loonie was 73.01 US cents to 73.21 US cents in the early premarket period. The Canadian dollar was down 0.06 per cent against the U.S. dollar over the past five days.
On world markets, the U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a basket of currencies, slid 0.1 per cent early Friday morning to 106.36. On Thursday, the index advanced 0.8 per cent, its biggest single-day increase since mid-March. That advance followed new U.S. inflation figures which suggested price pressures remain persistent.
Elsewhere, the euro rose 0.2 per cent to US$1.0547, while Britain’s pound was last trading 0.3 per cent higher at US$1.2213, according to figures from Reuters.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was lower at 4.648 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.
More company news
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, on Friday reported a 13% rise in third-quarter profit as a rebound in markets attracted investors to its funds. On an adjusted basis, BlackRock earned US$1.64-billion, or US$10.91 per share, for the three months ended Sept. 30, from US$1.45-billion, or US$9.55 per share, a year earlier. -Reuters
Newcrest Mining shareholders have voted strongly in favor of accepting the US$16.81-billion buyout bid from global gold mining giant Newmont Corporation, Australia’s largest corporate takeover this year. The company announced on Friday that 92.63% of the votes cast by Newcrest shareholders were in favor of the deal going ahead, exceeding the requirement for at least 75% support. A Federal Court hearing is due to be held on Tuesday, in the final step for the takeover to be ratified. -Reuters
Economic news
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. import prices for September.
(9 a.m. ET) Canadian existing home sales and average prices for September.
(9 a.m. ET) Canada’s MLS Home Price Index for September.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey for October.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press