Bay Street Likely To Open Lower On Weak Crude Oil Prices, China Unrest

(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. futures and weak crude oil prices indicate a negative start for Canadian shares on Monday.

Concerns over the growing unrest in China following the imposition of stringent Covid-restrictions are expected to weigh on sentiment.

Data on Canada's current account for the third quarter of this fiscal is due at 8:30 AM ET.

Canada's current account surplus edged higher to CAD 2.692 billion in the second quarter of 2022 from the downwardly revised CAD 2.651 billion in the previous period, well below expectations of CAD 6.6 billion. It was the largest surplus in 14 years, predominantly due the widest goods surplus (CAD 12.5 billion).

The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Friday, extending its winning streak to a fourth session.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 20,446.28 around mid morning, gaining over 100 points in the process, gave up most of its gains as the session progressed and finally closed at 20,383.77, up 39.70 points or 0.2% from the previous close. The index gained about 2% in the week.

Asian stocks ended weak on Monday amidst a flare-up in protests against China's strict Covid curbs. The surging Covid caseload and the widespread protests in China dampened investor sentiment in most of the markets in the Asia-Pacific region.

Despite paring some early losses, European stocks are broadly down in negative territory around noon on Monday with investors making cautious moves.

Rising concerns about the growing unrest in China following the imposition of stringent Covid-related restrictions in several cities across the country weigh on investor sentiment.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $2.34 or 3.08% at $73.84 a barrel.

Gold futures are flat at $1,754.80 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.070 or 0.24% at $21.365 an ounce.