Colin Cieszynski
The Before the Bell report is compiled by editors of The Globe and Mail and is updated throughout the morning to reflect latest developments. Colin Cieszynski, Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Market Technician, is chief market strategist with CMC Markets.
Stocks and currencies have stabilized overnight with the market sell-off having run its course and traders looking for the next move. U.S. index futures plus the FTSE, Dax, Nikkei and the Hang Seng are all up or down marginally.
Currency markets have also been steady for the most part. The sterling is up boosted by an even bigger than expected rebound in UK retail sales. The Japanese yen and gold are holding on to recent gains. The Canadian dollar is also up a bit today with crude oil up 0.75 per cent this morning. The Canadian federal budget didn't have an impact on market sentiment toward the loonie.
Today brings one of a series of potential turning points for the markets. The U.S. House of Representatives is set to vote on U.S. president Donald Trump's health care reform bill. This is the first big test of his economic plans in Congress and may indicate how smoothly or how difficult it may be to enact his tax reform and infrastucture plans.
The Street has been banking big on reforms going smoothly so signs of opposition or delay could have a big impact on sentiment. It wouldn't take much to send traders jumping off the bandwagon at this point as we have seen over the last 48 hours. If the bill passes, it moves to the Senate next week where it could face even more opposition as the Republican majority is smaller there.
Meanwhile, the U.S. dollar also could be active around comments from Fed chair Janet Yellen. This is her first public appearance since last week's press conference. Traders will be looking to see if she will try to dial back the dovish reaction to the last Fed statement and dot plot which has sent the greenback dropping and the dollar Index under 100 over the last week.
Energy markets may be active today around the natural gas inventory report. Last week's big late winter storm is expected to cause a big 150+ BCF drawdown. Winter has been mild and demand lower overall, so this could become the gas bulls last stand.
MARKET DATA:
Futures (as of about 7:30 a.m. ET)
Dow +0.07 per cent; S&P 500 +0.21 per cent; Nasdaq: +0.13 per cent; TSX 60 +0.19 per cent
Equities
Japan's Nikkei -2.13 per cent
Shanghai composite index -0.50 per cent
Hong Kong's Hang Seng -1.11 per cent
Germany's DAX +0.38 per cent
London's FTSE -0.01 per cent
France's CAC 40 +0.17 per cent
Commodities
WTI crude oil (Nymex April) +0.67 per cent at $48.36 (U.S.) a barrel
Gold (Comex April) -0.13 per cent at $1,248.10 (U.S.) an ounce
Copper (Comex May) +0.32 per cent at $2.639 (U.S.) a pound
Currencies
Canadian dollar +0.025 at 75.03 cents (U.S.)
U.S. dollar index -0.01 per cent at 99.71
Bonds
Canada 10-year bond yield +0.03 at 1.67 per cent
KEY ECONOMIC RELEASES
(830 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for last week. The market expects a decline to 240,000.
(845 a.m. ET) Fed chair Janet Yellen makes the opening remarks at the Federal Reserve System Community Development Research Conference in Washington, D.C.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. new home sales for February. Consensus is for a 1.8 per cent rise to an annualized rate of 565,000.
KEY STOCKS TO WATCH
Earnings include: Fiera Capital Corp., KB Home, Klondex Mines Ltd., and Torex Gold Resources Inc.
Also see: Thursday's small-cap stocks to watch
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Nintendo Co Ltd. shares rose as much as 2 per cent on Thursday after a regulatory filing showed BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager, owns over 5 per cent of stock in the Japanese games maker. BlackRock owns a 5.17-per-cent stake in Nintendo, the filing, which was issued on Wednesday, showed
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U.S. healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson became the latest company to suspend all digital advertising on Google's YouTube, over concerns that its ads may have appeared on channels that broadcast offensive videos. Wireless carriers Verizon and AT&T said on Wednesday they would suspend digital ads on YouTube, joining a list of well-known British brands such as retailer Marks and Spencer Group Plc deserting Alphabet Inc's Google.
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With files from wire services
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