Falling Precious Metals Prices, War Concerns May Hurt Canadian Stocks

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market may open with a negative bias on Thursday amid an escalation in tensions in the Middle East after fresh strikes by Iran on Persian Gulf oil-and-gas infrastructure.

After Israel launched an attack on Iran's South Pars gas field, Tehran retaliated by hitting gas facilities in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, triggering fears of a wider conflict in the region.

Oil prices shot up, with the Brent Crude futures rising past $119 a barrel, and WTI futures crossing the $100 a barrel mark again. Prices dropped subsequently, but still remained at elevated levels.

Hawkish tones by the Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada may also weigh on sentiment. Central banks of both the countries left their interest rates unchanged, but warned of rate hikes to combat inflation.

In earnings news, Premium Brands Holdings Corporation (PBH.TO) reported fourth quarter revenue of $1.9 billion, up $15.7% or $258.00 million, compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. Adjusted EPS for the fourth quarter was $1.29 per share representing a 22.9%, or $0.24 per share, increase as compared to the fourth quarter of 2024.

Bay Street ended with sharp losses on Wednesday, weighed down by a plunge in the materials sector due to a steep decline in gold prices. Investors also assessed monetary policy decisions by the central banks of Canada and the U.S.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 616.42 points or 1.87% at 32,312.67.

Asian stocks nosedived on Thursday as rising oil prices following attacks on key energy infrastructure in the Middle East rekindled concerns about inflation, interest rates and the regional growth outlook.

The major European markets are down sharply, hurt by concerns about an escalation in tensions in the Middle East due to fresh strikes on energy facilities, and the war's impact on global economic growth.

The Bank of England has left its interest rate unchanged, as widely expected. The European Central Bank's policy announcement is due in a while.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.73% or 0.76% at $97.05 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $287.10 or 5.86% at 4,609.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $9.067 or 11.7% at $68.525 an ounce.