What every Canadian investor needs to know today

Global shares were mixed as markets assessed political turmoil in South Korea, where martial law was imposed and then lifted hours later, and France, where a no-confidence vote is set for later today.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher, with the benchmark S&P 500 and the Nasdaq hitting all-time highs as investors focused on coming economic data as well as remarks from U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.53 per cent to 44,941.05, the S&P 500 gained 0.32 per cent to 6,069.39​, and the Nasdaq Composite advanced 0.55 per cent to 19,587.477 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index opened 0.38 higher at 25,733.87, boosted by financial shares.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Royal Bank of Canada, Dollarama Inc., National Bank of Canada and EQB Inc.
RBC has reported higher fourth-quarter profit that beat analysts’ estimates and increased its dividend.
National Bank has recorded higher fourth-quarter profit that topped analysts’ estimates and also boosted its dividend.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Dollar Tree Inc.
In South Korea, “martial law itself has been lifted, but this incident creates more uncertainty in the political landscape and the economy,” said ING senior economist Min Joo Kang.
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.49 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.19 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.88 per cent and France’s CAC 40 rose 0.66 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.07 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.02 per cent.
Oil prices were little changed, with traders expecting OPEC+ to announce an extension to supply cuts this week while heightened geopolitical tensions continue to dominate market sentiment.
Brent crude futures were up 0.07 per cent at US$73.67 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures fell 0.06 per cent to US$69.90.
“With OPEC+ widely expected to extend its 2.2 million barrels per day voluntary production cut into the first quarter of 2025, prices are likely to stay range-bound unless a new catalyst emerges,” said Dilin Wu, research strategist at Pepperstone.
In other commodities, spot gold steadied at US$2,644.48 an ounce. U.S. gold futures were down 0.1 per cent at US$2,666.30.
The Canadian dollar was little changed against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.00 US cents to 71.16 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.92 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.33 per cent to 106.72.
The euro slid 0.26 per cent to US$1.0483. The British pound gained 0.02 per cent to US$1.2675.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.275 per cent.
Dollarama plans to build even more stores in Canada, hiking its long-term growth target to reach 2,200 locations by 2034.
Dollar Tree has beat third-quarter sales estimates, as more customers shopped at its discount stores for non-expensive essentials including groceries.
Japan and Euro zone services and composite PMI
(8:15 a.m. ET) U.S. ADP National Employment Report for November, which showed private payrolls increased at a moderate pace.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian labour productivity for Q3. Estimate is a decline of 0.3 per cent from Q2.
(9:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for November.
(9:45 a.m. ET) U.S. S&P Global Services/Composite PMI for November.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. ISM Services PMI for November.
(10 a.m. ET) U.S. factory orders for October. Consensus is a gain of 0.3 per cent from September.
(1:45 p.m. ET) U.S. Fed chair Jerome Powell participates in a moderated discussion at The New York Times DealBook Summit.
(2 p.m. ET) U.S. Beige Book is released.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press