5 Things to Know Before the Canadian Stock Market Opens Monday

Good morning mooers! Here are things you need to know about today's market:

●S&P/TSX 60 Index Standard Futures are trading at 1,328.10 ,up 0.33%.

●Economists expect Canada Feb inflation rate ticked up above 3% due to higher gas prices

●Oil prices soar to four-month highs

●Stocks to watch: Airbus SE, Canada Nickel

●Earnings Results & Economic Events: Feb PPI, North West earnings

Today, the Canadian dollar is trading at 73.88 cents US, a slight increase from Friday.

The S&P/TSX60 Index Standard Futures (SXF) are currently trading at 1,328.10, which is up 0.33% from the previous close.

Economists say inflation likely flared up again in February amid higher gasoline prices, suggesting that the path to achieving a two per cent inflation rate will be fraught with challenges. This uptick would reverse some of the improvement observed in January when the yearly inflation rate decreased to 2.9 per cent.

Statistics Canada is set to release its February consumer price index report on Tuesday. The consensus expectation among forecasters is that prices rose 3.1 per cent from a year ago.

"We're looking for inflation to re-accelerate as a result of higher energy prices during the month. It looks like for the next few months, inflation will probably be bouncing around the three per cent range," said Royce Mendes, managing director and head of macro strategy at Desjardins.

Oil futures rose early Monday, finding support as continued attacks by Ukraine on Russian energy facilities were estimated to have idled a significant chunk of Russia's refining capacity.

Crude prices rallied around 4% last week, lifted as a series of drone strikes by Ukraine forced the shutdown of Russian refining facilities. An attack on Sunday caused a brief fire at the Slavyansk refinery in Krasnodar, which processes around 170,000 barrels a day, according to Reuters.