Global markets were mixed on Wednesday as investors assessed the tenuous Middle East ceasefire and turned attention back to the U.S. economy.

Stocks and futures were mostly steady, with European markets falling.

Wall Street futures were subdued after the previous day’s rally. TSX futures were flat.

In Canada, investors are getting results from Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc., Evertz Technologies Ltd., AGF Management Ltd. and Novagold Resources Ltd.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from General Mills Inc. and Micron Technology Inc.

The shaky truce in the Middle East appeared to hold, buoying investor confidence, though some strikes had continued after the announcement and despite U.S. intelligence that said last week’s airstrikes only set back Iran’s nuclear program by a few months.

An MSCI index of global stocks held steady after pushing to a record high overnight.

“If the still tense situation in the Middle East does indeed continue to calm down, the stock markets could have a pleasant July ahead of them, in line with their typical seasonal pattern,” analysts at Frankfurt-based Metzler said.

“This would result in new all-time highs in the U.S., possibly further fueled by renewed expectations of interest rate cuts by the Fed.”

Federal Reserve Chair Powell was set to continue his congressional testimony at 10:00 a.m. ET, with investors looking for hints about the central bank’s monetary policy path.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.22 per cent in midday trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 and France’s CAC 40 were flat and Germany’s DAX lost 0.49 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.39 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.23 per cent.

Oil prices climbed more than 1 per cent as investors assessed the ceasefire and data showing strong U.S. demand.

Brent crude futures were up 99 US cents, or 1.5 per cent, at US$68.13 a barrel. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude gained 94 US cents, or 1.5 per cent, to US$65.31.

“Concerns about oil supply disruptions have declined,” said Giovanni Staunovo, commodity analyst at UBS.

“The drawdown shows that demand is still holding up in the U.S., the trade tensions were not as bad as some were fearing.”

In other commodities, spot gold was little changed at US$3,326.89 per ounce.

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

The day range on the loonie was 72.79 US cents to 73 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.76 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, rose 0.24 per cent to 98.10.

The euro lost 0.03 per cent to US$1.1607. The British pound lost 0.02 per cent to US$1.3611.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last flat at 4.294 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Japan machine tool orders

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. new home sales for May. Consensus is an annualized rate decline of 6.9 per cent.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell testifies on the semi-annual monetary policy report to the Senate Banking Committee.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press