Global markets were mixed in muted trading after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the Trump administration had threatened him with a criminal indictment over the refurbishment of the central bank’s headquarters.

Wall Street futures were in negative territory on the development. Dow futures were down 0.65 per cent, S&P 500 futures slid 0.74 per cent and Nasdaq futures were 1.05 per cent lower as of 4 a.m. ET.

TSX futures pointed higher after Canada’s main stock market closed up at a fresh record on Friday.

“The latest development marks a significant escalation in the fight between President Trump and Fed Chair Powell,” MUFG’s Lee Hardman said.

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was down 0.12 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 was flat, Germany’s DAX rose 0.19 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.25 per cent.

In Asia, Japanese markets were closed, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gained 1.44 per cent.

Oil prices dipped after Iran said it had “total ​control” following weekend violence, easing some concerns over ‍supply from the OPEC producer, while investors also weighed efforts to resume oil exports from Venezuela.

Brent crude futures lost 0.5 per cent to trade at US$63.03 a barrel. West Texas Intermediate crude (WTI) was down 0.6 per cent to US$58.76.

While a premium ⁠has formed in oil prices in recent days, the market is still underestimating the geopolitical risk ​from a wider Iran conflict that may affect oil shipments in the Strait of Hormuz, Saul Kavonic, head of energy research at MST Marquee.

“The market is saying, ‘Show me the disruption to supply’, before materially responding,” he added.

In other commodities, spot gold jumped 1.9 per cent to US$4,596.05 ‍an ounce after hitting a record high of $4,600.33 earlier in the day. U.S. gold futures for February delivery gained 2.3 per cent to US$4,606.20.

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

The day range on the loonie was 71.84 US cents to 72.11 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 0.77 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, dropped 0.32 per cent to 98.81.

The euro rose 0.4 per cent to US$1.1683. The British pound gained 0.47 per cent to US$1.3462.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.199 per cent.

China aggregate yuan financing and new yuan loans

With Reuters and The Canadian Press