(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. stock futures and weak commodity prices point to a negative start for Canadian shares on Thursday.
Worries about rising Covid-19 cases in China, and concerns about outlook for U.S. interest rates in the coming months are likely to weigh as well on sentiment.
San Francisco Federal Reserve President Mary Daly said on Wednesday that pausing rate hikes is off the table right now.
Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller said that he won't make a final decision on tightening before the release of jobs data and price consumption expenditures report.
The Canadian market ended marginally down on Wednesday with investors largely making cautious moves.
In addition to digesting the data on Canadian inflation, investors closely followed the developments on the geopolitical front following a missile blast in Poland.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended lower by 36.82 points or 0.18% at 19,957.96 after scaling a low of 19,897.26 and a high of 20,011.58 intraday.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday, with worries about ongoing China's COVID curbs and hawkish remarks from a slew of Federal Reserve officials keeping investors nervous.
European stocks are broadly lower in cautious trade as focus shifts to rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in China.
In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $1.49 or 1.74% at $84.10 a barrel.
Gold futures are down $7.70 or 0.42% at $1,767.90 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.459 or 2.12% at $21.065 an ounce.
