What every Canadian investor needs to know today

Global markets were higher ahead of a data-packed week, fuelled by investor optimism over billionaire hedge fund manager Scott Bessent’s nomination as U.S. treasury secretary.
Wall Street’s main indexes opened higher, with the blue-chip Dow scaling a new record.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.20 per cent, the S&P 500 gained 0.38 per cent to 5,992.28​, and the Nasdaq Composite rose advanced 0.72 per cent to 19,140.586 at the bell.
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index was up 0.2 per cent at the open to 25,494.09, buoyed by technology stocks.
In Canada, investors are getting results from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. after markets close.
On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Zoom Video Communications Inc.
“This week will be a holiday-shortened one in the U.S. due to Thanksgiving, with most news and data packed into the first three days,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, wrote in a note.
“Highlights include the [Federal Reserve] minutes on Tuesday, followed by growth, PCE, and jobs data on Wednesday.”
Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.11 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.32 per cent, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.44 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.16 per cent.
In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.3 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slipped 0.4 per cent.
Oil prices were little changed on Monday ahead of an OPEC+ meeting and following 6-per-cent gains last week and as geopolitical tensions remained high.
Brent crude futures edged 0.23 per cent lower to US$75 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at US$71.01 a barrel, down 0.32 per cent.
“The OPEC+ summit on Dec. 1, will further postpone the start of the planned production increases until February. Pushing back the start until Q2 or later is another possibility that would add even more support,” said Tim Evans, an independent energy analyst.
In other commodities, spot gold was down 1 per cent at US$2,686.73 an ounce, after declining more than 2 per cent earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures shed 0.9 per cent to US$2,688.40.
The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.
The day range on the loonie was 71.50 US cents to 71.80 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.47 per cent against the greenback over the past month.
The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, dropped 0.87 per cent to 106.63.
The euro rose 0.87 per cent to US$1.0518. The British pound gained 0.6 per cent to US$1.2605.
In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.325 per cent.
CI Financial Corp. is being privatized by an arm of a Middle Eastern sovereign wealth fund in a deal that values Canada’s largest independent asset manager at $4.7-billion.
Germany business climate index, which fell more than expected in November in further bad news for a country set to be the worst performer among the G7 this year.
(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian manufacturing sales for October.
(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. Chicago Fed National Activity Index for October.
(10:30 a.m. ET) U.S. Dallas Fed Manufacturing Activity for November.
With Reuters and The Canadian Press