Global stocks regained some stability as political upheaval in France, Japan and the U.S. weighed on markets, but did not offset underlying investor optimism over a possible boost from lower U.S. interest rates.

Investors also got another jolt of AI euphoria with the multibillion-dollar chip-supply deal between AMD and OpenAI.

Wall Street futures pointed lower after the S&P 500 and Nasdaq both closed at record highs yesterday.

S&P 500 futures were down 0.08 per cent, Dow futures slid 0.17 per cent and Nasdaq futures were 0.05 per cent lower as of 5 a.m. ET.

TSX futures were in negative territory after Canada’s main stock market reached a fresh record close yesterday.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from McCormick & Co. Inc.

“The fundamental narrative is still one of Fed rate cuts, and that is likely to continue for the remainder of the year and into next year,” said Daiwa Capital economist Chris Scicluna.

“Coupled with the AI story and the boost to the demand in activity that is going to be associated with it ... is something that should sustain demand for risk assets,” he added. “You’ve got political noise maybe interrupting that, but it’s certainly not a showstopper at the moment.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.04 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.09 per cent and France’s CAC 40 advanced 0.12 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei inched higher to a fresh record close after yesterday’s 4.75 per cent jump, while there was no trading in Hong Kong for a holiday.

Oil prices were steady as investors assessed a smaller-than-expected November output hike by OPEC+ against the backdrop of oversupply expectations.

Brent crude futures inched up 0.17 per cent to US$65.58 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude shed 0.28 per cent to US$61.52.

Both contracts settled up more than 1 per cent yesterday.

“Brent had fallen by around US$5 per barrel last week in response to earlier expectations of a larger supply boost, so this mild rebound seems reasonable,” said Anh Pham, a senior analyst at LSEG.

“For now, the market still appears capable of accommodating the extra volume.”

In other commodities, spot gold held its ground at US$3,957.60 an ounce after hitting an all-time high of US$3,977.19 earlier in the session. U.S. gold futures for December delivery were steady at US$3,980.10.

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

The day range on the loonie was 71.61 US cents to 71.73 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.82 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, gained 0.36 per cent to 98.46.

The euro dropped 0.44 per cent to US$1.1664. The British pound declined 0.37 per cent to US$1.3435.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.169 per cent.

*Note: Several scheduled U.S. data reports may not be released if the U.S. government shutdown isn’t resolved.

Prime Minister Mark Carney meets U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington

8:30 am ET: Canada merchandise trade balance for August. Consensus is for a deficit of $5.7-billion

8:30 am ET: U.S. goods and services trade balance for August. A US$61-billion deficit is expected (tentative)

10 am ET: Canada’s Ivey PMI for September

Several Federal Reserve members expected to speak throughout the day

With Reuters and The Canadian Press