Author: Consultant

Published: 8/2/2024 8:13 AM ET | 

The sell-off in equity markets triggered by economic growth concerns that followed the weak PMI data from the U.S is continuing unabated. Renewed political tensions in the Middle East and tech sector earning updates also swayed market sentiment.

Meanwhile, markets expect a decline in non-farm payroll additions and a steady unemployment rate in data to be released from the U.S. on Friday morning.

Wall Street Futures are trading deep in the red. European benchmarks also slumped. Asian stock indexes tumbled, tracking the sell-off in Wall Street while Nikkei plunged to a 6-month low.

Dollar Index weakened. Bond prices rallied and yields eased amidst the global meltdown in stocks. Crude oil prices edged up. Gold scaled fresh highs amidst rate cut hopes. Cryptocurrencies are trading on a weak note.

Here is a snapshot of the major world markets at this hour.

Stock Indexes:

DJIA (US30) at 40,031.00, down 0.79%
S&P 500 (US500) at 5,384.30, down 1.15%
Germany’s DAX at 17,789.35, down 1.64%
U.K.’s FTSE 100 at 8,255.90, down 0.33%
France’s CAC 40 at 7,314.25, down 0.76%
Euro Stoxx 50 at 4,688.55, down 1.62%
Japan’s Nikkei 225 at 35,917.50, down 5.73%
Australia’s S&P ASX 200 at 7,943.20, down 2.11%
China’s Shanghai Composite at 2,905.34, down 0.92%
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng at 16,945.51, down 2.08%

Currencies:

EUR/USD at 1.0831, up 0.37%
GBP/USD at 1.2742, up 0.02%
USD/JPY at 149.09, down 0.18%
AUD/USD at 0.6515, up 0.26%
USD/CAD at 1.3883, up 0.07%
Dollar Index at 104.07, down 0.34%

Ten-Year Govt Bond Yields:

U.S. at 3.928%, down 1.19%
Germany at 2.2010%, down 2.18%
France at 2.973%, down 0.64%
U.K. at 3.8860%, down 0.05%
Japan at 0.946%, down 1.46%

Commodities:

Brent Oil Futures (Oct) at $79.56, up 0.05%.
Crude Oil WTI Futures (Sep) at $76.34, up 0.0.04%.
Gold Futures (Dec) at $2,508.20, up 1.10%.

Cryptocurrencies:

Bitcoin at $64,660.55, up 0.23%
Ethereum at $3,153.42, down 1.08%
BNB at $573.64, up 0.22%
Solana at $164.65, down 2.76%
XRP at $0.5753, down 5.53%.

BCE Inc. says its earnings rose in the second quarter as it focused on cost management in a highly competitive environment, while adjusted earnings dipped.

The telecoms giant says earnings attributable to shareholders came in at $537 million, up from $329 million in the same quarter last year.

Earnings worked out to 59 cents a share for the quarter ending June 30, up from 37 cents a share last year.

The rise in profits came even as operating revenue of $6.01 billion was down slightly from $6.07 billion last year.

Bell says the increased profits were due to lower other expenses, including lower buying obligations, severance and acquisition costs.

The company says adjusted earnings were $712 million, or 78 cents per share, down slightly from $722 million, or 79 cents per share last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 1, 2024.

Cenovus Energy Inc. says it will be returning “substantially” more money to shareholders in upcoming quarters after achieving its debt reduction target.

The Calgary-based oil and gas company says in second-quarter results that it hit its net debt target of $4 billion in July and so will be returning 100% of excess free cash flow to shareholders starting in the third quarter.

The company says its second quarter earnings rose to $1 billion, up from $866 million in the same quarter last year.

Earnings worked out to 53 cents per diluted share, up from 44 cents from last year.

Cenovus says excess free funds flow in the quarter ending June 30 was $735 million, up from $505 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

The company reported revenues of $14.9 billion for the second quarter, up from $12.2 billion for the same quarter last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 1, 2024.

 Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. says earnings were up in the second quarter in part because of higher oil sales and prices.

The Calgary-based oil and gas producer says earnings were $1.72 billion for the quarter ending June 30, up from $1.46 billion for the same quarter last year.

Earnings worked out to 80 cents per diluted share, up from 66 cents last year.

Adjusted net earnings from operations were $1.89 billion, up from $1.26 billion last year.

The company says production volumes in the quarter were 1.29 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, up eight per cent from the same quarter last year.

Revenue was $9.05 billion for the quarter, up from $7.89 billion for the same quarter last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.

TC Energy Corp. says it had a net income of $963 million in the second quarter, up from $250 million in the same quarter last year.

Earnings worked out to 93 cents per share for the quarter ending June 30, up from 24 cents per share for the same quarter last year.

The increase in earnings was due in part to a significant loss on its Canadian natural gas pipeline segment last year.

Adjusted earnings came in at $978 million, down slightly from $981 million for the same quarter last year.

Revenues were $4.09 billion, up from $3.83 billion for the same quarter last year.

The company declared a dividend of 96 cents per common share, up from the 93 cents it declared last year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.

Thomson Reuters says its earnings slipped in the second quarter while revenue rose and it edged up its revenue outlook.

The media giant says it had earnings of US$841 million in its second quarter, down from US$894 million last year.

It says earnings worked out to US$1.86 per share, down from US$1.90 per share last year.

The company says revenues of US$1.74 billion were up from US$1.65 billion for the same quarter last year.

Thomson Reuters says its operating profit was US$415 million, down from US$825 million last year, with the decrease in part because of a gain last year from a business sale.

The company says it expects total revenue growth for the year of around seven per cent, up from an earlier forecast of 6.5 per cent.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.

• Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was assassinated in Tehran.
• Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard accused Israel of carrying out the assassination.
• Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said it is Iran’s duty to punish Israel for this action.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/31/brent-tops-80-per-barrel-as-analyst-flags-phase-of-deterioration-in-the-middle-east.html

• Private payrolls increased by just 122,000 in July, the slowest pace since January and below the upwardly revised 155,000 in June and the estimate for 150,000, ADP reported.
• Wages for those who stayed in their jobs increased 4.8% from a year ago, the smallest increase since July 2021.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/07/31/private-payroll-growth-slowed-to-122000-in-july-less-than-expected-adp-says.html

 Fortis Inc. says it earned $331 million in its second quarter as it saw strength in its Arizona business and benefited from new customer rates at Tucson Electric Power.

The St. John’s, N.L.-based gas and electric utility company says the profit compared with $294 million in the same quarter a year ago.

The profit for the period ended June 30 amounted to 67 cents per share, up from 61 cents a year earlier.

Fortis says its adjusted net earnings amounted to 67 cents per share, up from 62 cents per share in the second quarter of 2023.

Revenue for the quarter reached $2.6 billion compared with $2.5 bullion a year earlier.

Its capital expenditures hit $1.1 billion in the quarter compared with about $1 billion a year prior.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 31, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:FTS)