Global shares were mixed as investors clung to the view that U.S. Federal Reserve may cut interest rates this year.

Wall Street futures were in positive territory after a mixed close on major U.S. markets yesterday.

TSX futures followed sentiment higher after the market eased from record highs yesterday.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., Emera Inc. and Constellation Software Inc.

U.S. President Donald Trump said yesterday he would nominate Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Stephen Miran to temporarily fill a vacant seat at the Fed.

He holds similar views to Trump, who has berated chairman Jerome Powell for being “too late” in cutting interest rates, even though growth is holding up and inflation is ticking higher.

“It locks in a vote for rate cuts at all the meetings between now and the end of January,” said Ray Attrill, head of FX strategy at National Australia Bank in Sydney.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.28 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 inched up 0.02 per cent, Germany’s DAX declined 0.12 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.36 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.85 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.89 per cent.

Oil prices were stable but poised for the steepest weekly losses since late June on a tariff-hit economic outlook and a potential meeting between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin.

Brent crude futures were up 0.32 per cent to US$65.69 a barrel, on track to decline more than 4 per cent week-over-week. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures rose 0.28 per cent to US$64.06 a barrel, set to fall nearly 4.9 per cent on a weekly basis.

“The Russian leader is expected to insist on having his territorial demands granted, a hard sell for [Ukraine], while his U.S. counterpart will push for a ceasefire,” said PVM analyst Tamas Varga.

“No breakthrough is anticipated, and the U.S. following through on its threat to impose secondary sanctions on those dealing in Russian energy - including China and India - remains a possibility.”

In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.4 per cent to US$3,400.40 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 1.02 per cent to US$3,489.20, after hitting an all-time high of US$3,534.10 on reports of duties on U.S. imports of bullion bars, most of which come from Switzerland.

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.68 US cents to 72.86 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.3 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, declined 0.18 per cent to 98.23.

The euro fell 0.23 per cent to US$1.1641. The British pound was little changed at US$1.3444.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.254 per cent.

Japan household spending and bank lending

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian employment for July. The Street is expecting a rise of 0.1 per cent, or 15,000 jobs, versus a rise of 0.4 per cent (or 83,1000 in June), with the unemployment rate gaining 0.1 per cent to 7.0 per cent and average hourly wages up 3.0 per cent year-over-year.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press