Before the Bell: What every Canadian investor needs to know today

Before the Bell: What every Canadian investor needs to know today S.R. SLOBODIAN PUBLISHED 56 MINUTES AGO UPDATED 1 MINUTE AGO COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER Listen to this article Learn more about audio Log in or create a free account to listen to this article. Equities Global markets took a breather as oil prices ​retreated from a four-month high, though the recent surge in ‌energy costs continued to fuel inflation worries and expectations that central banks may need to tighten policy. Wall Street futures were in positive territory ahead of key inflation numbers later this morning. TSX futures followed sentiment higher. On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Kroger Co. Analysts at JPMorgan now expect eight of the nine developed-market central banks to hike interest rates by the year end, including the Fed, BOJ, all four central banks in Europe, and the reserve banks of Australia ⁠and New Zealand. “The tightening is for now expected to remain shallow, but ​risks to our forecasts lean in the direction of more action in the face of resilient growth, sticky core inflation, and commodity price ⁠pressures,” they said in a note. Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.44 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.45 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.55 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.51 per cent. In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.93 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 0.6 per cent.    S&P 500 FUTURES 7,639.25+40.75 (0.54%) DOW FUTURES 52,372.00+277.00 (0.53%) TSX 60 FUTURES 2,089.60+7.70 (0.37%) PAST DAY 0.54% 0.53% 0.37% CLOSE, SEPT. 10 5:42 A.M., SEPT. 11 SOURCE: BARCHART Commodities Oil ​prices eased but remained near multi-month highs and U.S. diesel ‌prices hit a record high as attacks along key Middle East shipping routes stoked prolonged supply disruption fears. Brent crude futures fell 3.25 per cent to US$104.10 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude dropped 2.66 per cent to US$99.75 a ⁠barrel. “Some headlines of possible new talks in ‌the Middle East are weighing moderately on oil prices today,” said UBS energy analyst Giovanni Staunovo, adding: “I keep seeing near-term risks to the upside for oil prices, but we should expect ongoing high price volatility too”. In other commodities, spot gold was up 0.7 per cent to US$4,346.44 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December ​delivery slid 0.4 per cent to US$4,388.40. HIGH GRADE COPPER US$6.54-0.01 (-0.15%) SPOT…