U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday Iranian missile strikes on bases in Iraq had not harmed any U.S. troops stationed there and damage was minimal, an outcome he said showed Tehran wanted to de-escalate a standoff. U.S. and European government sources said they believed Iran had deliberately sought to avoid U.S. military casualties in its missile strikes to prevent an escalation. However, the big problem this morning is the crash of a Ukraine airliner crashing shortly after take-off from Tehran on Wednesday, bursting into flames and killing all 176 people on board. The plane was a Boeing 737-800 and was serviced as recently as two days ago. Sixty-three Canadians were on aboard, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he was “shocked and saddened” and added: “Our government will continue to work closely with its international partners to ensure that this crash is thoroughly investigated, and that Canadians’ questions are answered.”
Oil prices have fallen by 4.31% due to the stand down by the U.S. and Iran, plus oil inventories rose higher than expected causing the Canadian dollar to weaken slightly, expect further volatility.