Before the Bell will pause on the holiday Monday and return on Tuesday.

Global markets were mixed as traders’ attention turned to key U.S. payrolls data for clues on the Federal Reserve’s next interest rate decision.

The data will come a day after Fed governor Christopher Waller tempered rate-hike bets. Traders are now expecting a nearly 50-per-cent chance of a rate increase, compared with 63 per cent before his comments, according to the CME FedWatch tool.

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

TSX futures were little changed ahead of August jobs numbers later this morning.

“If the U.S. jobs data comes in soft – both in terms of job additions and, ideally, wage growth as well – the Fed doves could gain some more ground, pulling yields and the dollar lower while supporting equity valuations,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote, wrote in a note.

“If, however, the U.S. jobs data comes in strong ... the market focus, and fear, will remain on inflation. That could keep yields rising and weigh on equity valuations.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.02 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 slipped 0.05 per cent, Germany’s DAX climbed 0.11 per cent and France’s CAC 40 declined 0.05 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.26 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng rose 1.74 per cent.

Oil prices eased but were still headed for a weekly gain as rising U.S.-Iran tensions heightened concerns over Middle East supply risks.

Brent crude futures were down 0.06 per cent to US$95.46 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures lost 0.31 per cent to trade at US$91.02.

“The combination of renewed U.S.-Iran hostilities and ongoing uncertainty around the Strait of Hormuz has been enough to reprice risk higher, even while actual tanker flows have not collapsed,” said Tim Waterer, chief market analyst at KCM Trade.

In other commodities, spot gold held steady at US$4,4474.78 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for December delivery fell 0.4 per cent to US$4,521.40.

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.42 US cents to 72.55 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1 per cent against the greenback over the past month. It traded at $1.3803 per US$1.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.22 per cent to 99.13.

The euro slipped 0.06 per cent to US$1.1619. The British pound inched up 0.01 per cent to US$1.3525.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.765 per cent.

Japan’s household spending

Germany’s factory orders

Euro zone’s retail sales

8:30 a.m. ET: Canadian employment for August. The Street is expecting an increase of 17,500 jobs with the unemployment rate remaining 6.4 per cent.

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. nonfarm payrolls for August. Consensus is a gain of 58,000 jobs with the unemployment rate remaining 4.1 per cent and average hourly wages gaining 3.1 per cent year-over-year.

10 a.m. ET: Canada’s Ivey PMI for August.

10 a.m. ET: U.S. Global Supply Chain Pressure Index for August.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press