Morning Briefing: Earnings in focus, oil rebounds

Earnings in focus, oil rebounds

Geopolitics are still being eyed by investors but equity markets have focused on earnings in early trading Thursday.

Results from Wall Street-listed companies and some key European players have been digested by investors and oil prices have seen a gain overnight, although far below the near-4 per cent decline of the previous session.

Asian markets closed mostly higher led by Hong Kong while Tokyo and Shanghai were flat. Australian business confidence held steady in the first quarter.

European investors are weighing regional earnings and data. London continues to lag its peers following the election call and rebound for the pound. BoE governor Mark Carney speaks in Washington later.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open higher.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	20,404.49 (-0.58 per cent)	-2.40 per cent	+12.76 per cent
TSX Composite	15,552.88 (-0.45 per cent)	+0.72 per cent	+11.80 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,103.65 (-0.15 per cent)	-4.39 per cent	+10.82 per cent
German DAX	12,045.20 (+0.24 per cent)	-0.06 per cent	+15.58 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,462.09 (+0.46 per cent)	+0.36 per cent	+8.84 per cent
Japan Nikkei	18,430.49 (-0.01 per cent)	-5.59 per cent	+9.01 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
53.35 (+0.85 per cent)	50.81 (+0.73 per cent)	1281.20 (-0.17 per cent)	U$0.7415
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7518

Finance leaders aim to influence Trump at economic meetings

World finance leaders will be meeting at the International Monetary Fund and World Bank events in Washington Thursday and will aim to exert influence over President Trump’s protectionist policies.

The two global organizations see some of the US president’s proposed trade and tax reform policies as a risk and hope that they can help change his mind.

"These meetings will all be about Trump and the implications of his policies for the international agenda," Domenico Lombardi, of Canadian think tank Centre for International Governance Innovation told Reuters.