Global markets climbed as investors weighed a busy slate of corporate earnings, while keeping an eye on the Middle East after conflicting signals from the United States and Iran over efforts to end their five-month-old war.

Wall Street futures were in positive territory after strong gains on U.S. markets yesterday.

TSX futures followed sentiment higher after Canada’s main stock market was closed yesterday for a holiday.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Suncor Energy Inc., Dream Industrial REIT and RioCan REIT.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from SpaceX Corp., Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Caterpillar Inc., Merck & Co. Inc., Amgen Inc., McDonald’s Corp., Arista Networks, Gilead Sciences Inc., Pfizer Inc. and Spotify Technology SA.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.38 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.27 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.46 per cent and France’s CAC 40 edged down 0.05 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.32 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng fell 0.6 per cent.

​Oil prices rose as a diplomatic resolution to the U.S.-Iran ​conflict remained uncertain, while disruptions to oil flows ‌through key shipping routes persisted.

Brent futures rose 2.4 per cent to US$85.78 a barrel after dropping 7 per cent in the previous session to a three-week low.

U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude ⁠was ​up 1.8 per cent to US$81.82 a barrel after falling more than 5 per cent yesterday.

“Gulf exports remained under pressure, with Strait of Hormuz transits only marginally improving from extremely depressed levels. The export disruption story is intact, with Iranian attacks on vessels constraining flows,” ANZ analysts said.

In other commodities, spot gold was little changed at US$4,052.86 an ounce. U.S. gold futures gained 0.5 per cent to US$4,111.70.

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

The day range on the loonie was 71.09 US cents to 71.26 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.17 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.12 per cent to 100.02. The dollar was pegged at $1.4040.

The euro was little changed at US$1.1511. The British pound gained 0.06 per cent to US$1.3442.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.708 per cent.

8:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s merchandise trade balance for June

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

9:30 a.m. ET: Canada’s S&P global manufacturing PMI for July.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. factory orders for June. The consensus forecast is a gain of 0.1 per cent from May.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. Job Openings & Labor Turnover Survey for June.

Also: Canadian auto sales for July.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press