Bay Street May Open With Negative Bias

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are likely to open with a negative bias Tuesday morning amid uncertainty surrounding reported talks between U.S. and Iran.

After U.S. President Trump's announcement on Monday about postponement of strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure by five days, Iran responded by saying that there had been no direct talks and that Trump's move was designed to lower energy prices and "buy time" for his military plans.

Oil prices have climbed up sharply amid reports of huge explosions in Tehran and other cities, and Iran's denial that it held talks with the U.S. to end the war.

Meanwhile, Israeli Primer Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the country is continuing strikes against Iran and Lebanon continue without pause.

On the economic front, Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term index, which tracks 12-month forward expectations for business performance, sank to 55.8 in March, from the over three-year high of 65.3 in the previous month, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed.

Data from Statistics Canada showed Canada's manufacturing sales likely rose 3.8% in February, following a 3% decline in January, according to preliminary estimates.

The Canadian market closed higher on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement that strikes on Iran's energy infrastructure has been postponed by five days, and that the talks with Iran were progressing well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 566.40 points or 1.81% at 31,883.81.

Asian stocks closed higher on Tuesday, tracking cues from Wall Street where the major averages climbed up after postponed strikes against Iran's power plants for five days, citing what he said were "productive conversations" with Tehran to end the war.

The major European stocks are showing weakness today after oil prices moved higher amid conflicting reports on potential U.S.-Iran talks on ending the conflict. Weak PMI data from Germany, France and the UK also weigh on sentiment.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $3.63 or 4.1% at $91.76 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $22.70 or 0.525 at $4,378.60 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.480 or 0.7% at $68.875 an ounce.