Bay Street May Open With Slightly Positive Bias

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is likely to open with a positive bias Wednesday morning, riding on materials stocks thanks to a sharp rise in bullion prices amid escalating geopolitical tensions.

With U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats and relentless attempt to take over Greenland despite tough resistance from European nations escalating geopolitical tensions, gold prices soared to record highs today.

Data on Canadian producer prices and raw materials prices for the month of December are due at 8:30 AM ET.

The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Tuesday as the U.S. intensified its push for taking over Greenland, while Canada reiterated its commitment to support the Arctic territory, raising concerns of a possible escalation in the already-fractured bilateral ties.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index settled with a loss of 340.68 points or 1.03% at 32,750.28.

U.S. President Donald Trump posted an image on his social media platform, Truth Social depicting Greenland as a part of the U.S. territory. The Arctic region is currently under the ownership of Denmark, which has vehemently opposed any "takeover" attempts.

Asian stocks ended weak on Wednesday as risk aversion gripped financial markets on the back of rising bond yields and U.S. President Donald Trump's renewed push to acquire Greenland.

The major European markets showed weakness with investors continuing to stay reluctant to pick up stocks due to trade war jitters.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up marginally at $60.45 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $102.60 or 2.13% at $4,868.40 an ounce. Silver futures are down $0.291 or 0.31% at 94.345 an ounce.