Canadian Market Likely To Open With Negative Gap

(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. futures amid concerns about tech earnings following the emergence of China's startup DeepSeek's AI model, and worries about U.S. President Donald Trump's policies and tariff threats point to a gap down opening for stocks on Bay Street on Monday.

With a slew of central banks, including the Federal Reserve, Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank, scheduled to announce their interest rate decisions this week, the mood is likely to remain quite cautious.

Barrick Gold Corporation (ABX.TO) said Sunday that a major expansion at the Lumwana project in Zambia is supporting the country's economic growth. The company said it has contributed over US$3.7 billion to Zambia since 2019. In 2024 alone, Lumwana's operations contributed US$887 million to the economy and Barrick remains one of the nation's top five taxpayers, the company said.

Brookfield Asset Management (BAM.TO) announced earlier today that it has closed two real-estate investments in Japan worth a combined $1.6 billion.

The Canadian market closed higher on Friday, extending gains to a ninth straight session, the longest winning run in over three years. Worries about potential new tariffs by the U.S. weighed on sentiment and limited market's upside.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index closed up 34.41 points or 0.14% at 25,468.49, the highest finish in six weeks. The index gained about 1.6% in the week.

Asian stocks closed broadly lower on Monday as investors reacted to weak Chinese data and awaited interest-rate decisions from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank this week for directional cues.

China's Shanghai Composite finished marginally lower at 3,250.60 after new data showed Chinese manufacturing activity unexpectedly shrank in January and non-manufacturing activity growth slowed sharply - raising concerns about Q1 2025 growth and the effectiveness of stimulus measures.

European stocks are down in negative territory, weighed down by a sell-off in the tech space due to concerns about the impact of Chinese startup DeepSeek's powerful and cost-efficient AI model on the sector.

Weak data from China and caution ahead of Fed and ECB policy meetings also weigh on stocks.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.19 or 0.25% at $74.47 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $3.80 or 0.14% at $2,775.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.250 or 0.8% at $30.935 an ounce.