Markets were muted in choppy trading as a global bond selloff eased, ⁠with ​investors turning to upcoming U.S. economic data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next policy moves.

Wall Street futures were mixed with the Dow pointing higher after major North American markets closed up yesterday.

TSX futures were little changed.

In Canada, investors are getting results from BRP Inc. and Lululemon Athletica Inc.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Ciena Corp., Copart Inc. and Zscaler Inc.

Investors’ immediate focus is tomorrow’s pivotal U.S. payrolls report after disappointing private labour data for August. Fed Board Governor Christopher Waller is due to speak, after New York Fed President John Williams said yesterday that rising long-term bond yields were a reflection of a solid economy.

“There is an interpretation about why yields are moving higher — is it ‌good, or bad? ​... Negative reasons being: too much supply of debt, fiscal risk, geopolitics and, normalization ​of risk premium because of oil. But it might be that a key ⁠reason behind higher yields is simply higher nominal growth,” Lombard Odier chief economist Samy Chaar said.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.04 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 gained 0.07 per cent, Germany’s DAX gave back 0.04 per cent and France’s CAC 40 slid 0.33 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.17 per cent lower, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng slid 0.39 per cent.

Oil prices rose as ​investors weighed the uncertainty of ‌renewed military strikes between the U.S. and Iran that risk disrupting supplies from the Middle East.

Brent crude futures were up 1.23 per cent ​to US$96.81 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 1.4 per cent to US$92.28.

In other commodities, spot gold rose 1.2 per cent to US$4,437.08 an ⁠ounce after hitting a near one-month low in the previous session. U.S. gold futures gained 1.6 per cent to US$4,483.30.

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.19 US cents to 72.41 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.46 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.3811 per US$1.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, dropped 0.39 per cent to 99.40.

The euro rose 0.12 per cent to US$1.1603. The British pound advanced 0.06 per cent to US$1.3493.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.790 per cent.

Japan’s and Euro zone’s services and composite PMI

8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s international merchandise trade for July.

8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian labour productivity for Q2.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. initial jobless claims for week of Aug. 29.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. productivity for Q2. The Street is expecting an annualized rate rise of 1.4 per cent.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. goods and services trade deficit for July.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. Revelio Public Labor Statistics for August.

9:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s S&P Global Services PMI for August.

9:45 a.m. ET: U.S. S&P Global Services and Composite PMI for August.

10 a.m. ET:S U.S. ISM Services PMI for August.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press