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 was down hard on Friday as the United States and Iran indicated there could be an end to their war, as it approaches its ninth week. After Israel and Hezbollah reached a 10-day ceasefire in Lebanon on Thursday, Iran announced the Strait of Hormuz is now open. U.S. President Donald Trump then posted “THANK YOU” on Truth Social. On the chance of Iran-U.S. talks starting as soon as the weekend, West Texas Intermediate and Brent crude tumbled by more than US$10 per barrel in mid-morning trading.
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- Dominic Leblanc, Minister of Canada-U.S. Trade, told the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade on Thursday that Canada is pressing the U.S. for a wider trade agreement. Leblanc said that would be better than a series of one-off deals. The Office of the U.S. Trade Representative recently issued a report targeting trade issues with Canada, which included Canada’s dairy system.
- The European Union’s trade surplus with the rest of the world plummeted by 60 per cent in February, said Eurostat, on Friday. As well, the EU’s statistics agency said exports to the U.S. in February fell by 26.4 per cent and imports from the U.S. were down 3.2 per cent. Eurostat said the declines were due to tariffs the EU and the U.S. have imposed on each other.
- China and Vietnam agreed on Friday to hold demarcation talks regarding a disputed area of the South China Sea. This came as Vietnamese President To Lam wrapped up a four-day visit to China, which included meetings with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Also, China criticized Japan on Friday for sending a warship through the Taiwan Strait, which the former sees as its territorial waters.
