Bay Street Likely To Open On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look headed for a weak start Monday morning amid rising trade tensions after China's Commerce Ministry said it would retaliate against nations cooperating with the U.S.'s tariff wars. i U.S. President Donald Trump's threat that Fed Chair Jerome Powell might be removed from his post is also likely to weigh on sentiment.

White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said on Friday that the president and his team are examining the legal feasibility of removing Powell and claimed that he had acted politically to benefit Democrats.

On Thursday, Trump blasted Powell for not lowering interest rates, calling him "always TOO LATE AND WRONG."

In Canadian company news, power producer Northland Power Inc. (NPI.TO) announced Monday the appointment of Jeff Hart as the Company's new Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective May 1, 2025. He will be based at Northland's headquarters in Toronto and will report directly to Christine Healy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Northland.

The Canadian market closed modestly higher on Thursday. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index spent morning trading bouncing back and forth across the unchanged before spending the afternoon hovering in positive territory.

The index ended the day up 86.02 points or 0.4% at 24,192.81, continuing to recover from the eight-month closing low set last Tuesday.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Monday, with markets in Hong Kong, Australia and New Zealand closed due to the Easter holiday.

The U.S. dollar tumbled after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to fire Fed Chair Powell over rate cuts and released an eight-point list targeting what he calls "non-tariff cheating" by foreign nations -- a warning he said could affect diplomatic and trade ties with the United States.

The major European markets are closed today for Easter Monday.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $1.51 or 2.3% at $63.17 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $87.50 or 2.63% at $3,415.90 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.570 or 1.76% at $33.040 an ounce.