Bay Street Seen Opening On Negative Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are likely to open on a negative note on Thursday, tracking weak global cues amid uncertainty about the status of U.S.-Iran peace talks. Concerns about inflation due to higher oil prices and possibility of interest rate hikes by central banks sometime in the foreseeable future are likely to weigh as well on sentiment.

Materials stocks may struggle, weighed down by a fall in precious metals prices.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are up $4.01 or 4.44% at $94.33 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $113.30 or 1.5% at $4,439.00 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $4.641 or 6.39% at $68.00 an ounce.

The Canadian market closed on a strong note on Wednesday amid optimism about a U.S.-Iran peace deal soon, after the Trump administration sent a 15-point proposal to end the ongoing war in the Middle East.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index traded firmly positive throughout the session before settling at 32,382.60, up by 441.01 points, or 1.38%.

Asian stocks gave up early gains to end mostly lower on Thursday as uncertainty lingered on the status of Middle East peace talks with Iran dismissing an American plan to pause the war, insisting that it will only occur on Tehran's own terms and timeline.

The major European markets are notably lower today amid uncertainty surrounding U.S.-Iran peace talks, as Iran has rejected the American plan, saying that an end to the conflict can happen only on Tehran's own terms and timeline.