Bay Street Likely To Open Lower

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are seen opening on a weak note on Friday as worries about U.S.-Iran conflict may weigh on sentiment. A sell-off in tech stocks in global markets is likely to weigh on technology stocks in the Canadian market as well.

Investors await earnings updates from leading U.S. tech companies, including Alphabet, Amazon, Microsoft and Meta Platforms next week for further direction.

Brookfield Corporation (BN.TO) and its insurance arm Brookfield Wealth Solutions Ltd. (BNT.TO) said shareholders have approved a merger that will simplify the group's corporate structure and create a single publicly listed parent company.

Lundin Mining Corporation (LUN.TO) said its second-quarter revenue is expected to benefit from about $79 million on a pre-tax basis from provisional pricing adjustments on prior-period concentrate sales, primarily reflecting higher prices for previously sold copper and molybdenum.

The company also expects to report realized losses of about $12 million on gold collar contracts during the quarter. Lundin expects a non-cash gain of about $31 million from the revaluation of its gold collar contracts.

The Canadian market settled lower on Thursday as a plunge in the gold-linked materials sector dragged the index down. Also, the ongoing U.S.-Iran conflict forced investors away from riskier assets.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index settled lower by 76.05 points or 0.21% at 35,340.15.

Asian stocks closed weak for a second straight session on Friday amid growing questions about sky-high artificial intelligence-driven valuations.

Additionally, Netflix forecast a second consecutive quarter of slowing sales growth and SpaceX aborted Flight 13 of its giant Starship rocket at the last minute, contributing to investor anxiety ahead of the weekend.

The major European markets are showing weakness with stocks trending lower amid concerns about inflation and rates as oil prices climbed higher on worries about tensions in the Middle East. A sell-off in the tech space due to AI-related jitters weigh as well on sentiment.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $1.80 or 2.28% at $80.75 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $2.00 or 0.05% at $3,994.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.627 or 1.12% at $55.560 an ounce.