Equities
Canada’s main stock index fell at Monday’s opening bell, tracking global markets as interest rate concerns weigh on investor sentiment. On Wall Street, key indexes also started in the red with traders looking ahead to a key speech from Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell tomorrow.
At 9:31 a.m. ET, the Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was down 82.9 points, or 0.4 per cent, at 20,675.44.
In the U.S., the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 51.57 points, or 0.15 per cent, at the open to 33,874.44.
The S&P 500 opened lower by 16.91 points, or 0.41 per cent, at 4,119.57, while the Nasdaq Composite dropped 102.55 points, or 0.85 per cent, to 11,904.41 at the opening bell.
“Now that Wall Street has had enough time to process the dovish FOMC decision and another robust [U.S.] nonfarm payroll report, the focus shifts predominantly to Fed speak and economic data that should support the disinflation process,” OANDA senior analyst Craig Erlam said.
Mr. Powell is due to speak Tuesday at the Economic Club of Washington.
“He will probably sound hawkish faced with the latest jobs report, if he says anything about it at all,” Swissquote senior analyst Ipek Ozkardeskaya said.
In Canada, Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem is also scheduled to speak around midday on Tuesday on how monetary policy works. He will hold a press conference after.
Last month, the central bank raised interest rates by a quarter percentage point and signalled that a pause in the tightening campaign. On Wednesday, the bank will release a summary of deliberations at its last policy meeting. It’s the first time the bank has offered a look at the discussions that went into the rate decision.
Canada’s major economic release comes on Friday with a reading on hiring in January from Statistics Canada.
RBC chief currency strategist Adam Cole says that bank’s economists are forecasting a small increase in employment for the monthly, with the addition about about 5,000 new positions. That would follow the 176,000 surge that played out over the prior four months, he said in an early note.
On the earnings front, Wall Street investors will get results from Walt Disney Co., Dupont and PepsiCo through the week as the current reporting season hits the halfway point. Bay Street traders will get earnings from Enbridge, Magna and Saputo. After Monday’s close, TSX-operator TMX will report results.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.08 per cent by midday. Britain’s FTSE 100 slid 0.64 per cent. Germany’s DAX and France’s CAC 40 were off 0.80 per cent and 1.26 per cent, respectively.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed up 0.67 per cent. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 2.02 per cent.
Commodities
Crude prices edged higher in early trading after last week’s steep losses after the head of the International Energy Agency said China’s reopening will be a key driver for demand.
The day range on Brent was US$79.61 to US$80.81 in the early premarket period. The range on West Texas Intermediate was US$73.13 to US$74.02. Both benchmarks fell 3 per cent on Friday and saw sharp losses for the week.
Speaking on the weekend, IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol said China’s recovery remains a driver for oil prices.
The IEA expects half of global oil demand growth this year to come from China, where Mr. Birol said jet fuel demand was surging, according to a Reuters report.
Depending on how strong that recovery is, he said the OPEC+ group may have to reassess their decision to cut output by 2 million barrels per day through 2023.
Meanwhile, price caps on Russian energy products took effect on Sunday with the G7, EU and Australia agreeing on caps of US$100 per barrel on diesel and other products that trade at a premium to crude, and US$45 per barrel for products that trade at a discount, such as fuel oil, Reuters reported.
In other commodities, gold prices were higher. Spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to US$1,873.12 per ounce by early Monday morning, after hitting its lowest level since Jan. 6. U.S. gold futures gained 0.6 per cent to US$1,872.40.
Currencies
The Canadian dollar was weaker, trading in a fairly narrow range, while its U.S. counterpart held near its best level in three weeks against a group of world currencies.
The day range on the loonie was 74.40 US cents to 74.65 US cents in the predawn period.
There were no major economic releases on Monday’s calendar.
On world markets, the U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, hit a three-week peak of 103.25 early Monday morning and was last, up 0.1 per cent at 103.23. The index had gained 1.1 per cent on Friday after a surprise jump in U.S. payrolls was seen as giving the Fed the latitude to continue raising interest rates.
Elsewhere, the euro slid 0.2 per cent to hit its lowest in nearly three weeks of US$1.0769, according to figures from Reuters.
The yen was 0.5 per cent weaker at 131.90 per U.S. dollar.
More company news
Top gold producer Newmont Corp said it had made a US$16.9-billion offer for Australian peer Newcrest Mining Ltd to build a global gold behemoth, although investors and analysts said it undervalued the target amid a leadership change. Newcrest is seeking a new boss, with previous chief executive Sandeep Biswas having stepped down in December, while global interest rates are expected to peak this year and turn down, polishing the outlook for gold prices.
Dell Technologies Inc said on Monday it would lay off about 5% of its workforce as it struggles with a slump in the personal computer market and braces for a potential recession. PC demand has collapsed after a two-year boom during the pandemic when people working from home splurged on everything from new monitors and laptops to keyboards.
The Globe’s Andrew Willis reports Bank of Nova Scotia is expanding its U.S. credit operation by hiring a New York-based team to launch a structured loan business targeting a US$1-trillion market. Scotiabank hired four Wall Street executives from Paris-based investment bank Natixis SA to build a U.S. collateralized loan obligation platform. The group will create securities for institutional clients backed by a pool of loans, typically non-investment grade debt. Toronto-based Scotiabank has been a significant investor in CLOs for decades and will start originating the structured products later this year.
Economic news
(10 a.m. ET) Canada’s Ivey PMI for January.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for January.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press