Equities<\/p>\n
Global markets were on edge after concerns about the Iran war and inflation pain had triggered \u200bthe sharpest selloff<\/a> in U.S. Treasuries and other benchmark government bonds since \u200clast year\u2019s Liberation Day turmoil.<\/p>\n Traders also eyed what could be a tense meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in Washington later.<\/p>\n Wall Street futures were in the red after major North American markets closed down yesterday.<\/p>\n TSX futures followed sentiment lower as investors assessed the latest retail sales data showing a drop of 0.7 per cent in July.<\/p>\n In Canada, investors are getting results from BlackBerry Ltd.<\/p>\n On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Costco Wholesale Corp.<\/p>\n \u201cInflation is high, central bankers are giving hawkish messages, there\u2019s competition from the funding needs of the tech sector and there are no reassuring signs on the U.S. debt trajectory,\u201d AXA\u2019s \u200bChief Economist Gilles Moec said.<\/p>\n \u201cThey are all fairly big macro issues and on top of that you have the binary geopolitical issue of what is happening in the Middle East.\u201d<\/p>\n Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.23 per cent in morning trading. Britain\u2019s FTSE 100 edged up 0.06 per cent, Germany\u2019s DAX dropped 0.25 per cent and France\u2019s CAC 40 fell 0.35 per cent.<\/p>\n In Asia, Japan\u2019s Nikkei returned from a holiday break, closing 0.76 per cent higher. Hong Kong\u2019s Hang Seng slid 0.29 per cent.<\/p>\n Commodities<\/p>\n Oil prices were on the rise as \u200bdiplomatic talks between the U.S. and Iran \u200cshowed little sign of progress, while investors focused on uncertainty about a potential US ban on diesel exports.<\/p>\n Brent crude futures were up 2.1 per cent to US$105.20 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) futures gained 1.8 per cent to US$93.85 a barrel.<\/p>\n \u201cBrent retains a larger geopolitical \u200band sea-route premium because international crude is more \u2060directly exposed to Middle East and Hormuz disruption, while WTI \u2060benefits more from relatively insulated U.S. supply,\u201d said \u200cPriyanka Sachdeva, head of market insights at Phillip Nova.<\/p>\n In other commodities, spot gold fell 0.6 per cent to US$4,261.55 an ounce. \u2060U,.S. gold \u200bfutures for December delivery declined 0.5 per cent to US$4,296.30.<\/p>\n Currencies and bonds<\/p>\n The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.<\/p>\n The day range on the loonie was 70.77 US cents to 70.97 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 1.92 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.4127 per US$1. <\/p>\n The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.14 per cent to 101.24. <\/p>\n The euro slid 0.12 per cent to US$1.1372. The British pound declined 0.11 per cent to US$1.3224. <\/p>\n In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 5.107 per cent.<\/p>\n