Firm Commodity Prices Point To Positive Start On Bay Street

(RTTNews) - Higher U.S. and Canadian futures and firm commodity prices point to a steady start for Canadian stocks on Monday. Geopolitical tensions may weigh a bit and limit market's upside, but the undertone is likely to remain fairly positive.

The focus will be on Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's upcoming meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump.

The Canadian market closed on a strong note on Friday amid rising expectations of interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve as jobs data in both nations showed declining momentum.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which hit a new intraday high of 30,490.04, settled at 30,471.68, up by 311.09 points, or 1.03%.

Asian stocks closed weak in thin holiday trading on Monday. Markets in mainland China, Taiwan and South Korean were closed for holidays.

Japanese markets bucked the weak trend, long-term bonds tumbled, and the yen touched a fresh low since early August against the U.S. dollar as pro-business leader Sanae Takaichi's victory in the ruling Liberal Democratic Party leadership race stoked bets on a revival in big spending and loose monetary policy.

Among the major European markets, France is down sharply on political concerns after the nation's Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu submitted his resignation to President Emmanuel Macron, a few hours after unveiling his cabinet.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.35 or 0.57% at $61.23 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $49.80 points or 1.28% at $3,958.70 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.210 or 0.44% at $48.175 an ounce.