Bay Street Seen Opening On Mixed Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open on a mixed note on Thursday with investors tracking commodity prices and largely making cautious moves amid renewed concerns about U.S. government's tariff moves.

On the economic front, data on average weekly earnings in Canada for the month of February is due at 8:30 AM ET.

The Canadian market turned in a strong performance on Wednesday, with stocks following their U.S. peers higher after President Donald Trump appeared to soften his stance on Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

"I have no intention of firing him," Trump told reporters on Tuesday but reiterated he would like to see Powell and the Fed resume lowering interest rates. The S&P/TSX Composite Index gave back ground after an early surge but still ended the day up 166.70 points or 0.7 percent at 24,472.68.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as trade war concerns resurfaced following mixed signals from the Trump administration regarding easing tariffs on Chinese imports.

U.S.-China trade deal optimism faded after U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said there were no plans for President Trump to move first in lowering tariffs to ease Sino-U.S. tensions, echoing comments from White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt that there will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China.

European stocks are exhibiting weakness amid renewed concerns about U.S. tariffs after White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt that there will be no unilateral reduction in tariffs against China. Investors are also digesting a slew of corporate earnings updates.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are up $0.86 or 1.37% at $63.13 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $55.30 or 1.67% at $3,349.40 an ounce, while silver futures are down $0.041 or 0.11% at $33.505 an ounce.