Global stocks rebounded as investors bet on a resolution to the Middle East war even as the U.S. blocked Iran’s ports after the collapse of peace talks over the weekend.

Wall Street futures were in positive territory while awaiting March producer price data and a fresh ⁠round of ​corporate earnings.

TSX futures followed sentiment higher.

In Canada, investors are getting results from AGF Management Ltd.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from JPMorgan Chase & Co., Johnson & Johnson, Wells Fargo & Co., Citigroup Inc. and BlackRock Inc.

“Markets are trading hope, not resolution. The failed weekend talks did not produce a deal, but they also did not close the door on diplomacy, and that is enough for equities to keep pushing higher for now,” said Charu Chanana, Saxo’s ‌chief investment strategist.

“The problem ​is that markets may be pricing ‌the chance of de-escalation faster than the proof of it, so I would still expect a choppy, headline-driven tape rather than ​a clean risk-on trend,” she added.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.64 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed 0.1 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.92 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.58 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 2.43 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 0.82 per cent.

Oil prices eased as signs of possible talks to ​end the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran eased ‌supply risks stemming from the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.

Brent futures slipped 0.5 per cent to US$98.83, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell ​2 per cent to US$97.06.

While talk about the resumption ​of U.S.-Iran talks put downward pressure on prices, the ‌move lower ignores the loss of physical barrels of oil that are not moving, PVM Oil Associates’ analyst Tamas Varga said.

“In case talks between the adversaries fail to bear fruit, even revisiting the March highs cannot be ruled out ‌as the decline in global oil inventories might spill into the third quarter and beyond,” ​Varga added.

In other commodities, spot gold was up 1.1 per cent at US$4,788.76 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery rose 1 per cent to US$4,812.80.

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.46 US cents to 72.70 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, declined 0.23 per cent to 98.14. The U.S. dollar traded at $1.3763.

The euro climbed 0.25 per cent to US$1.1789. The British pound rose 0.27 per cent to US$1.3544.

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

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby pitched the potential for merging with American Airlines Group in a meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in late February, two sources say, raising an industry-reshaping deal likely to be met with significant regulatory scrutiny.

Japan’s industrial production

6 a.m. ET: U.S. NFIB Small Business Economic Trends Survey for March.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. PPI for March. Consensus is a gain of 1.1 per cent from February and up 4.6 per cent year-over-year.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press