Morning Briefing: Markets mixed with Yellen, earnings in focus

Markets mixed with Yellen, earnings in focus
In a relatively quiet session so far, equity markets are mixed Tuesday with Asian bourses largely higher while European indexes trend downwards.

Asia’s boost has come from a stronger dollar, helping Tokyo’s Nikkei gain thanks to exporters. The session was otherwise unremarkable with many investors and analysts awaiting Fed chair Janet Yellen’s testimony later this week for clues as to how US interest rates may role out in the coming months.

Earnings are in focus on Europe with mixed fortunes for some of the region’s largest firms. Politics continues to play a part too with ongoing Brexit talks continuing to reveal friction between UK and EU players.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open flat. Canadian housing starts data is due.
 

	Latest	1 month ago	1 year ago
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones	21,408.52 (-0.03 per cent)	+0.64 per cent	+17.46 per cent
TSX Composite	15,105.29 (+0.52 per cent)	-2.38 per cent	+5.18 per cent
Europe (at 5.00am ET)
UK FTSE	7,323.61 (-0.63 per cent)	-2.71 per cent	+9.59 per cent
German DAX	12,469.38 (+0.19 per cent)	-2.70 per cent	+26.81 per cent
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300	3,670.81 (+0.47 per cent)	+2.65 per cent	+14.59 per cent
Japan Nikkei	20,195.48 (+0.57 per cent)	+0.91 per cent	+28.56 per cent
Other Data (at 5.00am ET)
Oil (Brent)	Oil (WTI)	Gold	Can. Dollar
46.74 (-0.30 per cent)	44.26 (-0.32 per cent)	1210.40 (-0.23 per cent)	U$0.7743
			Aus. Dollar
			U$0.7613

Investment in electricity has surpassed oil, gas for first time
The shift towards greener energy sources has seen investment in electricity exceed that of oil and gas for the first time ever.

The IEA said Tuesday that a 12 percentage point increase in investment in electricity between 2014 and 2016 meant a 43 per cent share for the sector while there was a sharp decrease (44 per cent) in investment in exploration and production in oil and gas.

China saw the largest share of investment in electricity (21 per cent) while there was a 7 per cent hike for investment in the sector in India.

It’s not all bad news for the fossil fuels industry though as the IEA expects a 6 per cent growth for investment this year, however analysts are concerned that the lower levels of investment could mean supply issues in the years ahead.