Equities
Global markets were on the rise as artificial intelligence-related stocks found some respite after a selloff, while gains were tempered by elevated oil prices and investors eyed U.S. inflation data.
Wall Street futures turned lower as the U.S. consumer price index in September came in at an annual 3.7 per cent, slightly higher than expected. The 0.6-per-cent increase from August was in line with expectations.
TSX futures followed sentiment lower after a rebound in telecom stocks yesterday.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from ASML Holding N.V., Bank of America Corp., Morgan Stanley, BlackRock Inc., Progressive Corp., Fastenal Co. and State Street Co.
“Investors continue to decisively favour tech” including the semiconductor and hardware sectors, with concerns about stretched valuations having eased, Bank of America said in a survey of Asian fund managers.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.3 per cent. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.14 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.36 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.46 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.05 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.13 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices climbed after two vessels were struck in the Strait of Hormuz and Iranian officials told Reuters they were deploying new tactics to target ships, as Tehran seeks to keep oil prices high.
Brent crude futures rose 0.31 per cent to US$106.00 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 1.64 per cent to US$95.68 a barrel.
The Iranian officials declined to provide details of the new strategy, but one said that the country had started using different offensive tactics against vessels it considered in violation of its restrictions about 10 days ago, adding that this had led to an increase in attacks on such ships.
“The fact that Iranian officials are openly admitting to undermining U.S. efforts to keep oil prices under control speaks volumes about the real intentions behind the so-called ‘peace talks,’ ” said Priyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova.
In other commodities, spot gold fell nearly 1 per cent to US$4,116.66 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.3 per cent to US$4,162.80.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 70.012 US cents to 70.44 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 2.03 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.4278 per US$1.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, advanced 0.61 per cent to 102.81.
The euro slid 0.75 per cent to US$1.1115. The British pound fell 0.53 per cent to US$1.3184.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 5.317 per cent.
Other corporate news
Fairfax Financial Holdings will buy a majority stake in India’s IDBI Bank in a deal worth 528.78-billion Indian rupees (US$5.56-billion), the Indian government says.
Economic news
China inflation data for September and its trade surplus
2:05 a.m. ET: Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem participates in a fireside chat on growth, risk and the new map of global finance in Bangkok
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada building permits for August. BMO expects a 3-per-cent rise.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. consumer prices, which accelerated in September as gas, clothes and air fares got more expensive. The consumer price index rose 3.7 per cent last compared with a year ago, up from 3.4 per cent in August. On a monthly basis, costs jumped 0.6 per cent, compared with 0.4 per cent the previous month. Consensus had been for an annual 3.6 per cent and a monthly rise of 0.6 per cent.
2 p.m. ET: The U.S. Federal Reserve’s Beige Book of economic conditions
With Reuters and The Canadian Press