Futures linked to Canada's main stock index fell on Monday, pressured by a broad commodities selloff, as precious metals extended losses and oil prices slipped after U.S. President Donald Trump signaled de-escalation with Iran.
March futures dropped 0.4% Monday.
The TSX on Friday recorded its biggest single-day drop since April, as gold prices and mining stocks plunged after Trump picked Kevin Warsh, often viewed as hawkish, to succeed Jerome Powell as the next Federal Reserve chair.
Meanwhile, Capstone Copper said on Monday that it has resumed operations at its Mantoverde mine in northern Chile, even as a strike by a labour union representing nearly 22% of its workforce continued.
On the economic beat, the Markit Canada PMI for January was due at 9:30 a.m. EST.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange let go of 57.21 points, or 5.2%, to 1,051.08. a weekly loss of 103 points, or 8.9%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures fell on Monday as Wall Street begins a new month of trading, with traders keeping an eye on bitcoin after a weekend selloff.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials let go of 27 points, or 0.1%, to 48,981.
Futures for the broader index declined 21.5 points, or 0.3%, at 6,944.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ stumbled 152.75 points, or 0.6%, to 25,517.21.
Bitcoin dropped below $80,000 for the first time since April, a sign investors were taking more risk off the table following Friday’s sharp declines in gold and silver. Silver, which has more than doubled over the past 12 months, plunged around 30% on Friday. That marked the metal’s worst one-day performance since 1980. Gold also dropped around 9%.
The cryptocurrency, as well as the two metals, later came off their respective lows Monday, which helped trim losses in equity futures and ease risk-off sentiment.
Bitcoin last traded above $78,000, while spot gold and spot silver were both down more than 1%. However, gold and silver futures were higher.
Wall Street also turned its attention to Nvidia as questions over the artificial intelligence loomed.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Nvidia’s plans to pour $100 billion into OpenAI had stalled, with chipmaker execs expressing doubt about the deal. Nvidia shares were down more than 1% in the premarket.
Tech was also under pressure after Oracle announced plans to raise $50 billion. The news sent shares lower by 3%.
Markets in Japan sank 1.3% Monday, while the Hang Seng in Hong Kong dumped 2.2%.
Oil prices weakened $3.02 to $62.19 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices surged $43.90 to $5,073.80 U.S an ounce.
