Global markets climbed as investors took comfort in a softer-than-feared U.S. sanctions package against Iran and turned attention to tomorrow’s results from ⁠the world’s ​most valuable company, Nvidia.

Wall Street futures were in positive territory after major North American markets closed mixed yesterday.

TSX futures followed sentiment higher as investors eyed quarterly earnings from Bank of Montreal and Bank of Nova Scotia.

BMO reported lower third-quarter profit but beat analysts’ estimates on stronger-than-expected performance across its businesses as the lender seeks to boost its profitability, Stefanie Marotta reports. It kept its dividend unchanged from the previous quarter.

​Scotiabank recorded an increase ⁠in ​third-quarter profit, ​helped ‌by higher interest income, and kept its dividend unchanged from the previous quarter.

On Wall Street, markets are getting results from Intuit Inc. and Zoom Video Communications Inc.

“Geopolitical and trade-war headlines are popping up everywhere, suggesting that the U.S. relationship with the rest of the world may be just about to get worse,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, wrote in a note.

“[U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott] Bessent yesterday announced heavy sanctions against Iran, but also warned of secondary sanctions for those who do business with the country. The U.S. didn’t mention China specifically, but China is one of Iran’s biggest clients ... Now everyone is waiting to see the collateral damage of a war that the U.S. reportedly has limited means left to fight.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.49 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.12 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.8 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.4 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.5 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng edged down 0.02 per cent.

Oil prices fell as traders shrugged off the latest U.S. sanctions threat against Iran, viewing economic pressure as posing less risk to oil supplies than a military escalation.

Brent crude futures dropped 2.9 per cent to US$89.48 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was down almost 3 per cent to US$82.49.

“Iran still retains the ability to respond by disrupting shipping, which continues to keep a residual premium in the oil price,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM.

In other commodities, spot gold slipped 0.6 per cent to US$4,624.87 an ounce, after hitting its highest level since May 14 earlier. U.S. gold futures slid 0.4 per cent to US$4,681.50.

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.10 US cents to 72.27 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.85 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.3854 per US$1.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, slipped 0.03 per cent to 98.97.

The euro rose 0.03 per cent to US$1.1668. The British pound gained 0.09 per cent to US$1.3641.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.671 per cent.

Germany GDP and business climate

8:15 a.m. ET: U.S. ADP employment for Aug. 8 (four-week average change)

9 a.m. ET: U.S. S&P Cotality Case-Shiller Home Price Index (20 city) for June. The Street is projecting a rise of 0.1 per cent from May and up 1.8 per cent year-over-year.

9 a.m. ET: U.S. FHFA House Price Index for June. Consensus is a rise of 0.2 per cent month-over-month and up 2.5 per cent year-over-year.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. new home sales for July.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index for August.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press