Global stocks rose while the U.S. dollar hit a three-year low in response to reports that U.S. President Donald Trump was considering naming a replacement for the Federal Reserve Chair early.

Global stocks were higher in Europe as investors eyed the Middle East conflict, Trump’s tariff deadline and the U.S. President’s criticism of the country’s central bank.

Wall Street and TSX futures were higher.

U.S. investors are watching earnings from Nike Inc. and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.

A Wall Street Journal report on Wednesday said Trump considered announcing Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell’s replacement by September or October in a bid to undermine his position. Some analysts see such a move as an effort by the U.S. President to influence monetary policy before Powell is set to leave office in May 2026.

Trump’s months of pressure on the Fed over the decision not to cut interest rates has dented investor confidence in U.S. assets and undermined the central bank’s independence.

“I think it’s a given that Trump’s pick to succeed Powell, when it comes, will be one that sits at the highly dovish end of the spectrum and will support Trump’s agenda of lowering interest rates,” said Tony Sycamore, market analyst at IG.

“The issue with this is it will resurface questions from earlier in the year around the Fed’s independence, which, as we saw, undermines confidence in the Fed and the USD.”

Overseas, European shares were buoyed by signs that the Israel-Iran ceasefire appeared to be holding and that European Union leaders were preparing to set their stance for U.S. trade tariff talks ahead of a Trump-imposed deadline of July 9.

The pan-European STOXX 600 was up 0.2 per cent in midday trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 rose 0.24 per cent, Germany’s DAX rose 0.77 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gained 0.16 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 1.65 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.61 per cent.

Oil prices rose on Thursday to continue recovering after a volatile month due to the Israel-Iran conflict.

Brent crude futures rose 0.37 per cent to US$67.93 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate crude gained 0.45 per cent to US$65.21.

In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.5 per cent to US$3,347.39.

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart, which sank to its lowest level in three years with the latest Trump attacks on Powell.

The day range on the loonie was 72.83 US cents to 73.10 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 0.88 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which measures the U.S. currency against six rivals, hit its lowest level since March 2022. The index has slid 10 per cent this year as investors, worried by Trump’s tariffs and their impact on U.S. growth, look for alternatives.

“The striking thing on the dollar trend of the last six weeks is that in almost any market regime the dollar is struggling to appreciate,” State Street’s Michael Metcalfe said.

“It seems to be in something of structural decline,” he added, highlighting State Street data that investors were now the most negative they have been on the dollar - or “underweight” in banking speak - since the COVID pandemic.

The euro gained 0.58 per cent to US$1.1729. The British pound rose 0.57 per cent to US$1.3743.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last flat at 4.278 per cent ahead of the North American opening bell.

Germany consumer confidence

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s payroll survey for April.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian wholesale trade for May.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week of June 21. Estimate is 248,000, up 3,000 from the previous week.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. real GDP. Consensus is an annualized rate decline of 0.2 per cent.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. goods trade deficit for May.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. wholesale and retail inventories for May.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. durable orders for May. The Street expects a month-over-month rise of 7.5 per cent with core orders sliding 0.5 per cent.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. pending home sales for May. Estimate is a month-over-month drop of 0.5 per cent.