Global Markets: Oil higher on blockade threat

Published: 1 hour ago

By Glen Hallick

Glacier FarmMedia | MarketsFarm – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.

Crude oil prices were back on the rise Monday morning, after the United States and Iran failed to reached an agreement over the weekend during talks in Pakistan. The nearby contracts for West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude exceeded US$100 per barrel. Also, U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a naval blockade of all Iranian ports until vessels in the Strait of Hormuz can freely transit.

By Glen Hallick Glacier FarmMedia – Canola futures on the Intercontinental Exchange continued higher mid-session Thursday, pushed up by sharp…

Voters in three federal constituencies are headed to the polls on Monday in byelections that will likely hand Prime Minister Mark Carney a majority government this evening. The Ontario ridings of University-Rosedale and Scarborough Southwest are considered to be safe Liberals seats. The Quebec constituency of Terrebonne is expected to be a tight race between the Liberals and Bloc Québécois.

Statistics Canada reported on Monday that the value of all building permits in February dropped to C$12.1 billion compared from C$13.2 billion in January. The non-residential sector fell by C$1.3 billion while the residential sector bumped up C$135.6 million.

Hungary will have a new prime minister after the 16-year rule of Viktor Orbán and his hard-right, anti-European Union/pro-Russia Fidesz party came to an end in Sunday’s election. Running on an anti-corruption platform, Péter Magyar led the centre-right/pro-EU Tisza party to 137 of 199 parliamentary seats.

Lafarge, along with eight former employees, were found guilty on Monday by a French court of financing terrorism in Syria. The court said the cement manufacturer paid about US$5 million to three terrorist groups, including ISIL, during the Syrian Civil War. The payment was said to have been made to keep open Lafarge’s cement facilities in Syria. Included in the ruling, former Lafarge CEO Bruno Lafont was sentenced to six years in prison and fined US$1.3 million.