Futures tied to Canada’s resource-heavy primary exchange pushed upward on Tuesday as bullion steadied after a sharp recent downturn, and as investors readied themselves for a busy corporate reporting week.
By 07:23 ET (12:23 GMT), the S&P/TSX 60 index standard futures contract had risen 8 points, representing a 0.4% advance. The broader S&P/TSX composite index had climbed 0.8% to 32,183.88 on Monday, recovering from what had been its worst session since April in the prior trading day.
Gains were concentrated in consumer staples and consumer discretionary stocks, which helped offset weakness in the energy complex. The energy sector’s drag was tied to a retreat in oil prices after indications of de-escalation between the U.S. and Iran removed some of the geopolitical risk premium that had supported crude.
U.S. futures and market tone
Across the border, U.S. futures edged higher following a period of volatile trading as markets awaited a wave of quarterly earnings that are due this week. At 07:35 ET, Dow Jones futures were mostly flat, S&P 500 futures were up 18 points, or roughly 0.3%, and Nasdaq 100 futures had gained about 137 points, or 0.5%.
On Monday, the major U.S. averages rose in a choppy session. The Dow Industrials advanced by more than 500 points, an increase of around 1%, helped by a rally in chipmakers exposed to artificial intelligence.
Heavy earnings calendar
More than 100 companies included in the S&P 500 are slated to report earnings this week, and their results are expected to influence market direction in the near term. Among the names on the schedule:
- Advanced Micro Devices is set to issue results after the market close, with investors focused on demand for its AI-focused chips.
- Alphabet will report on Wednesday, followed by Amazon on Thursday - results that should shed light on advertising trends, cloud-computing momentum, and consumer spending patterns.
The slate follows a mixed market reaction to Microsoft’s recent report. Although Microsoft posted solid results, commentary around cloud-growth expectations and substantial ongoing investment in AI tempered enthusiasm, prompting some profit-taking in parts of the technology sector and underscoring investor sensitivity to the pace of returns on AI spending.
In after-hours trading, Palantir Technologies saw its shares jump after reporting quarterly results that beat expectations and signaled continued demand for its AI-driven platforms among government and commercial customers.
Corporate consolidation and valuations in the private tech space
In private market activity, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has completed an acquisition of xAI in a transaction that values the combined entity at $1.25 trillion. The deal pairs SpaceX - known for reusable rockets and a large satellite constellation - with xAI, the developer of the Grok AI assistant. xAI was assigned a $230 billion valuation in a fundraising round in January, and the combined company has been positioned as a closely watched potential public listing candidate.
Economic data and the government funding lapse
Beyond corporate results, traders are watching macroeconomic indicators and Federal Reserve signals for guidance on interest-rate expectations. Washington lawmakers are working on legislation to end a partial U.S. government shutdown that began over the weekend. The House of Representatives took up a Senate-approved funding measure late Monday, with a final vote expected on Tuesday.
Because of the funding lapse, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics announced it will not publish the January jobs report on Friday as planned, and other labor-market releases originally scheduled for this week have been postponed until federal operations resume.
Commodities - gold and oil movement
Gold prices recovered some footing after steep declines, which helped to reduce investor jitteriness following a bout of intense volatility. Spot gold surged 5.5% to $4,915.90 an ounce at one point, while April gold futures rose 6.2% to $4,938.56 per ounce. The metal had tumbled to as low as $4,400 per ounce on Monday, a drop of nearly $1,200 from an all-time high reached the prior week.
Oil prices also rebounded after two sessions of losses as de-escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions eased part of the premium priced into crude. Brent futures gained 0.5% to $66.61 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 0.6% to $62.51 a barrel. The benchmarks had fallen more than 4% in the previous session after comments by President Trump that Iran was "seriously talking" with Washington, signaling a reduction in geopolitical risk.
What to watch this week
Investors will be closely following earnings releases from a large swath of S&P 500 companies, commodity price action, and developments in Washington relating to the government funding impasse. Technology names tied to AI, energy firms exposed to fluctuations in oil, and consumer-facing companies sensitive to spending trends are likely to be among the most impacted sectors in the near term.
As markets digest both corporate and macroeconomic news, volatility may persist while traders sort through fresh earnings data and any new signals on geopolitical or fiscal developments.