Global markets fell in a broad risk-off mood, sparked by worries about an overvalued tech sector and diminishing prospects of an imminent interest rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The decline came as investors braced for quarterly results from retailers as well as chip giant Nvidia tomorrow, and awaited a long-delayed U.S. jobs report this week.

Wall Street futures were in negative territory: Dow futures were down 0.3 per cent, S&P 500 futures slid 0.27 per cent and Nasdaq futures were 0.29 per cent lower as of 6 a.m. ET.

TSX futures followed sentiment lower after major North American markets closed down yesterday.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Home Depot Inc.

“It’s starting to feel like investor conviction at current levels is fading,” said Tareck Horchani, head of prime brokerage dealing at Maybank Securities in Singapore.

“It’s less about a sharp catalyst and more about positioning fatigue, valuation sensitivity and a growing sense that the rally needs a pause,” he said.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 1.18 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 1.21 per cent, Germany’s DAX dropped 1.09 per cent and France’s CAC 40 retreated 1.12 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 3.22 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.72 per cent.

Oil prices were steady as supply concerns eased with the resumption of loadings at a Russian export hub, which was briefly halted by a Ukrainian drone and missile strike, as traders continued to assess the impact of Western sanctions on Russian flows.

Brent crude futures was little changed at US$64.18 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were flat at US$59.84 a barrel.

“Market worries centre around the build-up of oil on tankers as buyers assess the risk of potentially breaching sanctions,” said Vivek Dhar, mining and energy commodities strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, but added that history has shown Russia’s ability to adapt to sanctions.

“We expect any disruption from U.S. sanctions will prove temporary as Russia finds ways to circumvent sanctions once again.”

In other commodities, spot gold was down 0.1 per cent at US$4,041.54 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.8 per cent to US$4,040.30 an ounce.

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 71.10 US cents to 71.27 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.07 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, was little changed at 99.61.

The euro declined 0.08 per cent to US$1.1584. The British pound gave back 0.08 per cent to US$1.3146.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.117 per cent.

Some U.S. data may be delayed as federal services get back up to speed after the government shutdown.

8:15 a.m. ET: U.S. ADP unemployment for November.

8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s household and mortgage credit for September.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. import prices for October.

9:15 a.m. ET: U.S. industrial production and capacity utilization for October.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. NAHB Housing Market Index for November.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press