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Global markets eased despite record highs for Wall Street overnight, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s deadline for trade deals loomed next week. |
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TSX futures followed sentiment lower after Canada’s main stock index closed above 27,000 for the first time yesterday. |
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U.S. markets are closed today for the Independence Day holiday. |
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Investors are “now just waiting for July 9,” said Tony Sycamore, an analyst at IG, with the market’s lack of optimism for trade deals responsible for some of the equity weakness in export-reliant Asia, particularly Japan and South Korea. |
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Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.66 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.36 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.67 per cent and France’s CAC 40 fell 0.92 per cent. |
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In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.06 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.64 per cent. |
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Oil futures eased after Iran reaffirmed its commitment to nuclear non-proliferation, while major producers from the OPEC+ group are set to agree to raise their output this weekend. |
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Brent crude futures were down 0.71 per cent to US$68.31 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.61 per cent to US$66.59 as trade was thinned by the U.S. holiday. |
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“Thursday’s news that the U.S. is preparing to resume nuclear talks with Iran, and [Iran Foreign Minister Abbas] Araqchi’s clarification that co-operation with the UN atomic agency has not been halted considerably eases the threat of a fresh outbreak of hostilities,” said Vandana Hari, founder of oil market analysis provider Vanda Insights. |
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In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.5 per cent to US$3,343.07 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.3 per cent to US$3,352.50. |
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The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart. |
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The day range on the loonie was 73.52 US cents to 73.72 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.79 per cent against the greenback over the past month. |
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The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, declined 0.26 per cent to 96.93. |
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The euro rose 0.16 per cent to US$1.1779. The British pound was flat at US$1.3655. |
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U.S. bond markets are closed for holiday. |
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(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for June. |
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With Reuters and The Canadian Press |
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