Global markets were mixed as investors shrugged off the Japanese ruling coalition’s defeat in upper house weekend elections and turned to focus on this week’s U.S. tech earnings and European Central Bank policy meeting.
Wall Street futures were in positive territory after North American markets closed mixed on Friday.
TSX futures followed sentiment higher.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Verizon Communications, Steel Dynamics and Domino’s Pizza.
In Japan, the ruling coalition lost control of the upper house in an election on Sunday, further weakening Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba’s grip on power as a tariff deadline looms.
“The loss was within the range of expectations, and actually the outlook was even more pessimistic,” said Nissay Research Institute chief economist Tsuyoshi Ueno.
“In terms of negotiations with the U.S., it is easy to doubt whether a government with such a weak foundation is reliable as a negotiating partner,” he added
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.08 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.07 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.09 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.37 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei was closed for a holiday, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng advanced 0.68 per cent.
Commodities
Oil prices dipped slightly, with the latest European sanctions on Russian oil expected to have minimal impact on supplies while U.S. tariffs ensure demand concerns remain.
Brent crude futures dropped 0.55 per cent to US$68.90 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell 0.45 per cent to US$67.04.
“The latest round of EU sanctions aren’t necessarily going to change the oil balance. That’s why the market is not reacting much,” said Harry Tchiliguirian at Onyx Capital Group. “Russians have been very good at circumventing these kinds of sanctions.”
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.5 per cent at US$3,364.50 an ounce. U.S. gold futures rose 0.4 per cent to US$3,371.80.
Currencies and bonds
The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 72.80 US cents to 72.93 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.07 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, declined 0.22 per cent to 98.27.
The euro gained 0.09 per cent to US$1.1638. The British pound rose 0.31 per cent to US$1.3450.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.381 per cent.
Economic news
8:30 am ET: Canada industrial product price index and raw materials price index
10 am ET: U.S. leading indicator for June
10:30 am ET: Bank of Canada business outlook survey and survey of consumer expectations for the second quarter
With Reuters and The Canadian Press