Canadian Market Might Start Lower

(RTTNews) - The Canadian markets might be sliding down on Thursday, after hitting a high on Wednesday, as the market sentiments might be influenced by the U.S.-Iran tensions. The U.S. is reportedly making military build up near the Persian Gulf.

Crude volatility is attributed to geopolitical developments. Oil prices advanced in European trading session, while Brent came in above $71.50. Brent Crude, gained by 1.71% to $71.55.

Gold surged overnight and rose above $5,000 an ounce. U.S. gold futures are currently down 6.30 at $5,003.40.

On Wednesday, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index end at a new record closing high of 33,389.73, up 493.18 points or 1.5 percent.

In the Corporate segment, retail conglomerate Canadian Tire Corp. announced a decline in fourth quarter earnings compared to the prior year. Net income attributable to shareholders declined to C$211 million from C$385.4 million in the prior year. Earnings per share were C$3.96 versus C$6.54 last year.

Asian shares finished mostly higher, while European shares are lower. Japanese markets advanced on Thursday. The Nikkei average rose 0.57 percent to 57,467.83 while the broader Topix index gained 1.18 percent to close at 3,852.09.

Australian markets rose notably. The benchmark S&P/ASX 200 jumped 0.88 percent to 9,086.20. The broader All Ordinaries index settled 0.84 percent higher at 9,316.60.

The U.S. major averages finished higher on Wednesday. The Nasdaq advanced 175.25 points or 0.8 percent to 22,753.63, the S&P 500 climbed 38.09 points or 0.6 percent to 6,881.31 and the Dow rose 129.47 points or 0.3 percent to 49,662.66.

On the U.S. economic front, the Pending Home Sales Index for January will be published at 10.00 am ET. The consensus is for growth of 2.5 percent, while it down 9.3 percent in the prior month.

The Energy Information Administration or EIA's Natural Gas Report for the week will be issued at 10.30 am ET. In the prior week, the gas stock was down 249 bcf. EIA's Petroleum Status Report for the week is expected at 12.00 pm ET. In the prior week, the crude oil inventories were 8.5 million barrels, while gasoline inventories were up 1.2 million barrels.

The Fed Balance Sheet for the week will be released at 4.30 pm ET. In the prior week, the Level was $6.622 trillion.

Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic will give opening remarks before the Banking Outlook Conference: 'The Next Horizon in Banking' hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at 8.20 am ET.

Fed Vice Chair for Supervision Michelle Bowman will give opening remarks before the Banking Outlook Conference: 'The Next Horizon in Banking' hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta at 8.30 am ET.

Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari will give keynote before the Midwest Summit: Economic Outlook 2026 hosted by the Fargo Moorhead West Fargo Chamber of Commerce 9.00 am ET.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will give opening remarks before the 2026 Joint Conference on Financial Crises co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago 10.30 am ET.

Chicago Fed President Austan Goolsbee will moderate a panel Q&A before the 2026 Joint Conference on Financial Crises co-hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago at 10.30 am ET.