Bay Street Seen Opening On Negative Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look headed for a gap down opening on Thursday amid renewed concerns about inflation and economic growth as oil prices rose sharply after U.S. President Donald Trump said U.S. forces will strike Iran extremely hard in the next two to three weeks.

The U.S. President, who did not give a timeline for ending the conflict, offered no plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz but pledged further strikes on energy facilities in the event of Tehran rejecting a deal.

The Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) announced it has received approval from the Toronto Stock Exchange and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions to repurchase up to 15 million common shares under a new normal course issuer bid. The buyback represents approximately 1.2% of its outstanding shares as of March 24.

CGI Inc. (GIB-A.TO) has announced a multi-year strategic collaboration agreement with Amazon Web Services to accelerate artificial intelligence adoption, strengthen cloud security and drive digital transformation across the U.S. public sector.

The Canadian market closed on a firm note on Wednesday, reacting positively to U.S. President Donald Trump's message that U.S. forces will pull out of Middle East in two to three weeks.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index settled with a gain of 189.91 points or 0.58% at 32,957.95, with nine of the 11 sectors posting gains.

Trump said Tuesday that U.S. forces would be out of Iran in two to three weeks, irrespective of whether a deal with Iran is made out or not though he was optimistic about striking a deal with Iran's new regime.

Asian stocks tumbled on Thursday as hopes for a potential end to the Middle East conflict faded after oil prices rose sharply after U.S. President Donald Trump said in his televised address that Washington is 'getting very close' to achieving goals and the U.S. will bring Iran 'back to the Stone Ages where they belong' by striking hard in the next two to three weeks.

The major European markets are down in negative territory amid renewed concerns about inflation and growth as oil prices climbed higher after Trump's threat of severe attacks on Irans's energy infrastructure in the event of Tehran not agreeing to a deal soon.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $10.16 or 10.1% at $110.28 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $186.00 or 3.9% at $4,627.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $5.518 or 7.28% at $70.560 an ounce.