Oct 22 (Reuters) - Futures tracking Canada's blue-chip stocks slipped on Thursday, as rising oil prices fanned inflation concerns and reinforced expectations for higher-for-longer US interest rates, while fresh concerns over AI spending following Meta's (META.O), results also soured sentiment.
December futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 0.66% at 06:10 a.m. ET (10:10 GMT).
Brent crude prices rose 2.6% to their highest since May after more Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia heightened fears of a broader escalation in the Middle East conflict and prolonged disruption to crude supplies
Traders are pricing in a quarter-point US Federal Reserve rate hike in December, though they expect the central bank to keep rates on hold in its policy meeting next week, according to data compiled by LSEG
Spot gold slipped over 1% as fears of persistent inflation weighed on the precious metal
Global chip-related stocks were under pressure after Meta introduced new non-voting shares to fund its costly AI expansion, raising fresh concerns about spending in the sector
Canada's benchmark stock index (.GSPTSE), closed at a four-week high on Wednesday, lifted by government's C$9 billion ($6.4 billion) support package for sectors hit hard by US tariffs
Investors also await September producer inflation data for Canada later in the day, after softer-than-expected consumer price index (CPI) data earlier in the week
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Reporting by Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Jonathan Ananda
