Equities

World shares sat around record highs as investors hoped for the best from this week’s barrage of U.S. large-cap earnings, and while President Donald Trump’s latest tariff moves left stocks largely unmoved, it did boost gold and silver still further.

Accusing South Korea’s legislature of “not living up” to its trade deal with Washington, Trump late on Monday said he would increase tariffs on imports from Asia’s fourth-largest economy into the U.S. to 25 per cent.

Stocks appeared to take the news in stride, as investors geared up for a slew of earnings from the likes of Microsoft, Apple and Tesla starting on Wednesday.

Wall Street futures were mixed after major U.S. markets ended higher yesterday. Dow futures edged down, while S&P 500 futures and Nasdaq futures were up as of 6:15 a.m. ET.

TSX futures were in the black.

In Canada, investors are getting results from AGF Management Ltd. and Metro Inc.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Boeing Co., General Motors Co., NextEra Energy Inc., Texas Instruments Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and United Parcel Service Inc.

“Enthusiasm over the most eventful earnings week of the season has investors raising exposure to tech shares ahead of four of the Magnificent Seven reporting results,” said Jose Torres, senior economist at Interactive Brokers.

On Trump’s higher tariffs on South Korea, Torres said a visit from South Korean Industry Minister Kim Jung-kwan to Washington as soon as this Friday could “ease tensions and buy its government some additional time to improve relations.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 gained 0.38 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.58 per cent, Germany’s DAX fell about 0.04 per cent and France’s CAC 40 was up 0.15 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.85 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.35 per cent.

Oil prices edged up as a massive winter storm hit crude production and affected refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, but the rise was curbed by a resumption in supply from Kazakhstan.

Brent crude futures rose 0.35 per cent, at $65.82 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude was at $60.92 a barrel, up 0.48 per cent.

The U.S. is facing a loss of production in the U.S. as a severe winter storm swept across the country, straining energy infrastructure and power grids. U.S. oil producers lost up to 2 million barrels per day or roughly 15 per cent of national production over the weekend, analysts and traders estimated.

“The cold weather in the U.S. will likely cause quite significant drawdowns in oil stocks over the next few weeks, particularly if this weather persists,” said Tamas Varga, an oil analyst at brokerage PVM. This could continue to boost prices, he said.

In other commodities, spot gold climbed 1.6 per cent to $5,092.09 an ounce. It broke through the $5,100 mark for the first time on Monday.

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 72.77 US cents to 72.97 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.09 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, slid 0.13 per cent to 96.73.

The euro edged down 0.06 per cent to US$1.1890. The British pound climbed 0.15 per cent to US$1.3702.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.226 per cent.

China’s industrial profits

Japan’s machine tool orders

Germany’s retail sales

8:15 a.m. ET: U.S. ADP National Employment Report estimate for Jan. 10.

9 a.m. ET: U.S. FHFA House Price Index for November.

9 a.m. ET: U.S. S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index for November. Consensus is a month-over-month rise of 0.2 per cent and year-over-year gain of 1.1 per cent.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for January.

Also: U.S. Fed meeting begins

With Reuters and The Canadian Press