(Reuters) – Futures for Canada’s main stock index stumbled on Tuesday tracking a decline in metal prices, while investors brace for key Canadian inflation data, due later in the day, looking for hints about the Bank of Canada’s monetary policy.
March futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 0.6% at 7:14 a.m. ET (12:14 GMT).
A firmer dollar and higher U.S. Treasury yields pulled prices of gold and copper down, although copper losses were capped by stimulus hopes in China. [GOL/] [MET/L]
A December reading of domestic inflation data is due at 8:30 a.m. ET and could provide potential cues on when the Bank of Canada could start cutting borrowing costs.
On a monthly basis, CPI is expected to contract 0.3% in December versus a 0.1% growth in November, according to a Reuters poll of economists.
Money markets are currently pricing-in almost 83% chance of a rate cut from the BoC in April, with a 17% probability of no rate change.
Oil prices rose on Tuesday as investors weighed the impact of escalating tensions in the Middle East. [O/R]
U.S. futures ticked lower on Tuesday after Apple and Tesla shed 2% each, while investors gauged results from big U.S. banks to assess the health of capital markets and dealmaking. [.N]
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index ended higher at 21,061.88 on Monday, stopping just short of the 20-month high it notched last Monday. [.TO]
On the companies front, Canadian miner First Quantum Minerals on Monday, said it plans to conserve capital after it was forced to halt production at its Cobre Panama copper mine.
U.S.-listed shares of Barrick Gold were down over 2% in premarket trading, after it said its all-in-sustaining costs (AISC) per ounce of gold in the fourth quarter rose from the previous quarter.
COMMODITIES AT 7:14 a.m. ET
Gold futures: $2,042.8; -0.4% [GOL/]
US crude: $72.89; +0.3% [O/R]
Brent crude: $78.68; +0.7% [O/R]
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
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