Trading likely to be weak

(September 2 – 09:00 EST) – A return to weak trading is afoot again today. A dearth of trading is the only story ahead of the summer’s last long weekend. Markets will doubtless drop on the open. Asia slid overnight. Europe is following. And the S&P futures point to the same direction to markets here.

There was no data out of Statistics Canada today. In the U.S., last week’s jobless claims were reported up 4,000 to 289,000. This is slightly below analyst expectations and will likely be mildly negative for stocks.

But the big numbers are tomorrow’s jobs statistics. The U.S. will report its unemployment rate, average hourly earnings and non-farm payrolls. With everyone on inflation-watch, these numbers will give an important picture of the labour market, which is critical to policy at the U.S. Federal Reserve Board. Fed policy is basically what’s hanging over most markets these days, even though the next rate decision is more than a month away.

In the meantime, the world’s other major currencies are suddenly finding themselves strong against the benchmark U.S. dollar. The Euro has been one beneficiary of this climate, and it’s also helping to sabotage European stocks. London’s FTSE 100 is off about 55 points again this morning. In Paris, the CAC 40 is down more than 60, and Germany’s DAX has been off about 90 points today.

Asian markets were off again last night, with the story much the same as it is in Europe. Yen strength is undercutting stocks. In Japan the Nikkei lost 171 points. Hong Kong traders followed suit, cutting the Hang Seng index to the tune of 177 points.

Bracknell Corp. has reported third quarter loss of 15¢ per share, compared to an 8¢ per share profit in the quarter a year ago.

Later today CIBC will report its Q3 earnings, as will Hudson’s Bay.