Equities
Global markets were higher as steadying crude prices boosted sentiment, while investors awaited interest rate decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada.
Wall Street futures were in positive territory after major North American markets closed up yesterday.
TSX futures were in the black as investors expect the BoC to keep rates steady.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Power Corp. of Canada.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Micron Technology Inc., General Mills Inc. and Macy’s Inc.
The Fed is widely forecast to keep its policy steady but the debate will very much centre on whether conflict with Iran is likely to disrupt economic growth, threaten more persistent inflation or create a confounding mix of economic slowing and rising prices.
“Consensus still points to the median dot plot showing one 25-basis-point cut for 2026, aligning with current market pricing,” said IG analyst Tony Sycamore.
“That said, there’s a decent chance the dots could shift more hawkish, perhaps even to zero cuts, if the committee views the oil shock as leading to stickier inflation.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.6 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.25 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.82 per cent and France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.08 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.87 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.61 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices steadied after crude exports resumed from Iraq’s Kirkuk fields to Turkey’s Ceyhan port via pipeline, providing modest relief to global markets concerned about supplies from the Middle East.
Brent futures edged up 0.3 per cent to US$103.70 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 1.68 per cent to US$94.59.
“The news provided some relief to the market. Any additional volume finding its way back to the market is valuable under the current situation, so prices moved down to reflect that,” said LSEG senior analyst Anh Pham.
“But we are still in a US$100 per barrel oil environment, and the crisis around the Strait of Hormuz shows no sign of stopping yet.”
In other commodities, spot gold fell 0.6 per cent to US$4,976.12 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for April delivery declined 0.6 per cent to US$4,979.20.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.91 US cents to 73.07 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down 0.03 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, edged up 0.01 per cent to 99.58.
The euro was little changed at US$1.1542. The British pound was flat at US$1.3356.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.183 per cent.
Economic news
Japan’s trade balance
Bank of Japan monetary policy meeting (through Thursday)
Euro zone CPI
8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s population estimates for Q4.
8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian international securities transactions for January.
8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. PPI for February. Consensus is a rise of 0.3 per cent from January and up 2.8 per cent year-over-year.
9:45 a.m. ET: Bank of Canada’s policy announcement with Governor Tiff Macklem’s press conference to follow.
10 a.m. ET: U.S. factory orders for January.
2 p.m. ET: U.S. Fed announcement and summary of economic projections with Chair Jerome Powell’s press briefing to following.
Also: Quebec and Saskatchewan’s budgets are released.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press
