Global markets were mixed in nervous trading as the prospect of escalation in the war in the Middle East and the looming deadline for a deal to be reached kept nervy investors on the sidelines.

Wall Street futures were muted after major North American markets closed up yesterday, while TSX futures were little changed.

On Wall Street, markets are watching earnings from Levi Strauss & Co.

“We are back on a [U.S. President Donald] Trump imposed countdown clock and there’s no way to predict with any confidence what will happen,” said Kyle Rodda, senior markets analyst at Capital.com.

“The more intrepid traders might make a bet one way or the other. Others will look to hedge risk or stay out entirely. But there’s not much market participants can really do but wait and see.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.77 per cent in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.18 per cent, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.9 per cent and France’s CAC 40 climbed 1.32 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.03 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined 0.7 per cent.

Oil prices eased as a U.S.-imposed deadline loomed for Iran to open the Strait of Hormuz or be “taken out,” with Trump threatening to order attacks on Iranian bridges and power plants.

Brent crude futures fell 0.7 per cent to US$109 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were little changed at US$112.40.

Iran’s rejection of the U.S. ceasefire proposal has kept tensions elevated and left diplomacy hanging by a thread, said Priyanka Sachdeva, senior market analyst at Phillip Nova.

“Oil is holding its gains because the battlefield risk is no longer theoretical. Attacks on energy and shipping assets continue, and traders fear that even if the war ends, damage to infrastructure could sideline barrels for months, not days,” she said.

In other commodities, spot gold rose nearly 1 per cent to US$4,693.14 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for June delivery advanced 0.3 per cent to US$4,700.70.

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

The day range on the loonie was 71.77 US cents to 71.91 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was down about 2.42 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, slid 0.17 per cent to 99.82. The U.S. dollar traded against the loonie at $1.3923.

The euro gained 0.13 per cent to US$1.1560. The British pound rose 0.16 per cent to US$1.3256.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last down at 4.333 per cent.

Japan’s household spending

Euro zone services and composite PMI

8:30 a.m. ET: U.S. durable and core orders for February.

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

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

11 a.m. ET: U.S. New York Fed Survey of Consumer Expectations for March.

3 p.m. ET: U.S. consumer credit for February.

With Reuters and The Canadian Press