Bay Street Seen Opening On Negative Note

(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. futures amid concerns about fresh tariffs may send stock prices down the chart Monday morning. Also, uncertainty surrounding U.S.-China trade talks, and weak crude oil prices may also weigh on sentiment

On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the U.S.. Trump said that the incentives offered by other countries to lure filmmakers is hurting the American film industry very badly.

Investors are also looking ahead to the policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England, due on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. While the Fed is likely to hold rates, the BoE is widely expected to lower rates by 25 basis points.

On the Canadian economic front, the S&P Global Composite PMI reading and Services PMI reading for Canada are due at 9:30 AM ET.

In company news, Sierra Metals Inc. (SMT.TO) announced on Friday that it has acknowledged a revised offer from Alpayana S.A.C., which raised its proposed takeover bid from C$1.11 to C$1.15 per share. The company said that its board is currently reviewing the amended terms and will provide a recommendation to shareholders in the coming days.

On the earnings front, Cenovus Energy, Gibson Energy, Baytex Energy, Vermilion Energy, Ero Copper, Parkland Fuel and NexGen Energy are slated to announce their updates today.

The Canadian market closed on a firm note on Friday, coming back strongly after recording back-to-back losses. Data showing a much bigger than expected increase in U.S. non-farm payroll employment in the month of April aided sentiment.

Industrials and technology stocks were among the major gainers.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index jumped 235.96 points or 1% to 25,031.51, reaching its best closing level in a month.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment shot up by 177,000 jobs in April compared to expectations for an increase of about 130,000 jobs. The report also said the unemployment rate came in at 4.2 percent in April, unchanged from the previous month and in line with economist estimates.

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he had no plans to talk to his Chinese counterpart this week.

Trump also told NBC's "Meet the Press with Kristen Welker" that the tariffs announced in recent weeks would remain in some form to convince businesses to move production to the U.S.

Regional trade volumes were thin as markets in Japan, Hong Kong, mainland China and South Korea were closed for public holidays.

The major European markets are turning in a mixed performance in cautious trade. While the German market is notably higher, the French market is down in negative territory. The U.K. market is closed for Bank Holiday.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.91 or 1.56% at $57.38 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $84.90 or 2.65% at $3,328.20 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.386 or 1.2% at $32.645 an ounce.