Gloomy Monday in Store, on Inflation Concerns

Futures for stocks in Canada’s biggest market fell on Monday as worries about a spike in inflation increased after commodity prices jumped on vaccine-led recovery hopes.

The S&P/TSX Composite rang higher 110.2 points to close Friday at 18,384.27. On the week, the index lost nearly 76 points, or 0.4%

The Canadian dollar dipped 0.15 cents to 79.21 cents U.S.

March futures sank 0.2% Monday.

On a day without macroeconomic news, it was reported that Canadian banks are set to post their fourth straight year-on-year quarterly profit drop when they report results next week, the longest decline streak since the financial crisis, on margin compression and declining commercial lending, but flattening loan loss provisions signal a turning point.

RBC raised the rating on Calfrac Well Services to sector perform from underperform.

What’s more, RBC raised the rating on Lightspeed POS to outperform from sector perform

RBC raises rating on MEG Energy to outperform from sector perform.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange galloped 26.47 points, or 2.5%, to 1,098.56. Over the last week, the index strengthened 41 points, or 3.9%.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures declined in early trading on Monday after the S&P 500 posted its first losing week in three.

Futures for the Dow Jones took a header of 197 points, or 0.6%, to 31,236.

Futures for the S&P 500 slipped 34.25 points, or 0.9%, at 3,868.75.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite slumped 198.75 points, or 1.5%, to 13,377.25.

The move in futures came after the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ Composite snapped two-week winning streaks, the S&P with a loss of 0.7%, and the tech-heavy NASDAQ off 1.6%, last week. The blue-chip Dow eked out a 0.1% gain in the same period, supported by Caterpillar and JPMorgan.

Some equity investors grew concerned about rapidly rising bond yields in recent weeks as they could especially hurt high-growth companies reliant on easy borrowing while diminishing the relative appeal of stocks.

Tesla shares lost 3% in pre-market trading following a 4% decline last week. Apple and Microsoft also fell in early trading.

All eyes will be on Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who delivers his semi-annual testimony on the economy before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday. His comments on rates and inflation could determine the market direction for the week.

The market is headed into the final week of February with solid gains. The Dow and the S&P 500 have risen more than 5% this month, while the NASDAQ has climbed 6.2%.

On the pandemic front, the White House said that it expects to ship out millions of delayed coronavirus vaccine doses this week after a sweeping winter storm disrupted logistics. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Sunday that a New York resident has tested positive for the COVID-19 variant first identified in South Africa.

Overseas, in Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% Monday, while in Hong Kong fell 1.5%.

Oil prices gained 62 cents to $59.86 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices hiked $14.90 to $1,792.30. U.S.