Global markets were subdued as market enthusiasm about Washington and Beijing extending their tariff truce to November was tempered by jitters about U.S. inflation data later in the day.

Wall Street futures were little changed after U.S. markets closed lower yesterday.

TSX futures pointed higher after Canada’s main stock index posted marginal gains yesterday.

In Canada, investors are getting results from CAE Inc., Northwest Healthcare Properties REIT and Superior Plus Corp.

“If we see an inflation print that is above consensus that is going to make it very difficult for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates,” Foresight Group fund manager Mayank Markanday said.

“We are probably going to see more data validating fears that (U.S.) stagflation is a key risk,” he added, referring to an economic scenario of slowing growth and rising inflation that has not been prevalent in the U.S. since the 1970s.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.02 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.21 per cent, Germany’s DAX eased 0.5 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.1 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.15 per cent higher, reaching an all-time high, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng climbed 0.25 per cent.

Oil prices were broadly steady on the U.S.-China tariff truce, easing concerns an escalation of their trade war would hit oil consumption.

Brent crude futures lost 2 US cents to US$66.61 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures eased 0.2 per cent to US$63.86.

Potentially weighing on the oil market, U.S. President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin are due to meet in Alaska on Friday to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine.

“If Friday’s meeting brings a ceasefire or even a peace deal in Ukraine closer, Trump could suspend the secondary tariffs imposed on India last week before they come into force in two weeks,” Commerzbank said in a note.

“If not, we could see tougher sanctions against other buyers of Russian oil, like China.” 

In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.2 per cent at US$3,349.13 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were steady at US$3,398.90.

Gold slipped 1.6 per cent yesterday, while futures dropped by more than 2 per cent after Trump said tariffs will not be placed on imported gold bars, easing jitters in the market.

The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 72.49 US cents to 72.62 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.49 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, edged up 0.03 per cent to 98.55.

The euro slipped 0.02 per cent to US$1.1615. The British pound advanced 0.22 per cent to US$1.3463.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.287 per cent.

U.K. employment

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian building permits for June. Estimate is a month-over-month decline of 5.0 per cent.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. CPI for July. The Street is projecting a gain of 0.2 per cent from June and up 2.7 per cent year-over-year.

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. budget balance for July.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press