Overseas indices fell overnight and into this morning with the Dax down 0.25%, the FTSE down 0.1%, the Hang Seng down 0.7% and the Nikkei down 1.7%. US index futures are trading between a loss of 0.15% for Dow Futures and a gain of 0.25% for NASDAQ futures coming off another day of moderate losses for US indices in the 0.2%-0.6% range.
Crude Oil and Copper are both up about 0.8% this morning and appear to be getting a reprieve from recent selling pressure from decent China trade numbers. China reported a larger than expected trade surplus ($68.4B vs street $58.1), boosted by stronger than expected export growth (0.5% vs street -0.8%), and weaker than expected imports (-0.6% vs street 3.0%). Resource exporting countries have also reported trade data with Canada increasing its trade surplus more than expected and Australia increasing its trade surplus less than expected. Gold is holding steady near $2,050/oz.
Employment news remains front and centre heading into tomorrow’s nonfarm payrolls report. So far, this week’s employment numbers (JOLTs job openings and ADP payrolls) have come in worse than expected along with an increase in Challenger job cuts announced earlier today (46K vs street 37K) . Weekly initial jobless claims released this morning were pretty much in line with expectations (220K vs street 222K).
US nonfarm payrolls (street 180K vs previous 150K), and average hourly earnings (street 4.0% vs previous 4.1%) are due at 8:30 am tomorrow. Investors may be particularly interested in the wage inflation number heading into next week’s Fed meeting. Recall that last week, Canadian wage inflation held steady at 5.0%.
SIA Wealth In The Media:
Chief Market Strategist Colin Cieszynski appeared on BNN Bloomberg after the close where he spoke about relative strength, rules-based investing, SIA Wealth Management’s tactical return to 100% equity exposure, stocks, Oil, the Bank of Canada and more.
Capital has rotated down into small cap stocks and into broader range of sectors: portfolio manager