(RTTNews) - Bay Street is seen opening flat on Thursday as investors are likely to tread cautiously due to escalating tensions in the Middle East.
Tech stocks may find support after Meta Platforms Inc. (META) announced that it will invest more than C$13 billion Canada to build the first data center in the country, which will be optimized for its AI workloads.
In Middle East news, U.S. forces conducted strikes against Iran for a second straight day on Wednesday, but President Donald Trump said he expects the military flare-up will end very quickly and the U.S. is not looking for a long-term war.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are up $0.22 or 0.03% at $73.75 a barrel, coming off a low of $72.37.
Gold futures are up $35.80 or 0.83% at $4,118.20 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.925 or 1.58% at $59.465 an ounce.
The Canadian market ended notably lower on Wednesday, as a fresh exchange of attacks between the U.S. and Iran and the resultant uncertainty on a U.S.-Iran peace deal forced investors to cut down positions.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which stayed weak throughout the session, ended with a loss of 336.79 points or 0.95% at 34,935.80.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday, giving up some early gains as investors digested Chinese inflation data and monitored escalating hostilities in the Middle East.
Renewed geopolitical tensions in the Middle East as well as uncertainty over the outlook for artificial intelligence demand limited markets' upside, if any.
European stocks are broadly higher although the UK market underperforms in cautious trade. Shares of mining companies and financial firms are finding support.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
