What every Canadian investor needs to know today

Equities
Global markets were muted after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump pledged tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico, and additional tariffs on China.
Wall Street markets opened mixed as investors weighed the implications of Trump’s tariff threat. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 0.27 per cent to 44,614.89, the S&P 500 rose 0.21 per cent to 6,000.03​, and the Nasdaq Composite gained 0.28 per cent to 19,109.082 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.01 per cent lower at 25,407.77,as gains led by technology stocks countered trade worries.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Best Buy Co. Inc., Analog Devices Inc., CrowdStrike Holdings Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., HP Inc. and Nordstrom Inc.
“The market’s thinking, ‘well, what’s the one country or the one bloc that’s likely to be [Trump’s next target]? It’s probably going to be the EU. So naturally you’re going to be short European equities this morning,” Pepperstone senior market strategist Michael Brown said.
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Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was little changed in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.12 per cent, Germany’s DAX fell 0.17 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.11 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.87 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng inched 0.04 per cent higher.
Oil prices rose in early trade after falling in the previous session as investors took stock of a potential ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, weighing on oil’s risk premium.
Brent crude futures advanced 0.7 per cent to US$73.54 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at US$69.46 a barrel, up 0.75 per cent.
While the news calmed fear of disruption to Middle Eastern supply, the Israel-Hamas conflict “never actually disrupted supplies significantly to induce war premiums” this year, said senior market analyst Priyanka Sachdeva at Phillip Nova.
“The vulnerability of oil prices to geopolitical headlines lacks foundational backup and, coupled with the inability to maintain recent gains, reflects weakening global demand for oil and suggests a volatile market ahead.”
In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.3 per cent at US$2,633.99. U.S. gold futures gained 0.6 per cent to US$2,634.10.
The Canadian dollar sank against its U.S. counterpart following Trump’s tariff threat.
The day range on the loonie was 70.52 US cents to 71.53 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 1.37 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.1 per cent to 106.91.
The euro gained 0.08 per cent to US$1.0506. The British pound climbed 0.12 per cent to US$1.2585.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.297 per cent.
Best Buy has cut its annual profit and sales forecasts, in a sign that the holiday shopping season would be marked by aggressive discounts and tepid demand for pricey electronics.
(8:05 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada deputy governor Rhys Mendes spoke in Charlottetown, who said the central bank’s goal is to keep inflation low and stable, not to cause prices to decline.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian wholesale trade for October.
(9 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Home Price Index (20 city) for September. Estimates are gains of 0.3 per cent month-over-month and 4.7 per cent year-over-year.
(9 a.m. ET) U.S. FHFA House Price Index for September. Estimates are a rise of 0.2 per cent from August and 4.7 per cent year-over-year.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. new home sales for October. Estimate is an annualized rate drop of 2.7 per cent.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for November.
(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Fed minutes from Nov. 6-7 meeting
With Reuters and The Canadian Press