April 22 (Reuters) - Futures for Canada's main stock

index inched higher on Monday tracking a recovery in global

markets as they recouped some losses from the previous week on

easing Middle East tensions, while a fall in commodity prices

capped gains.

June futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.3% at

6:45 a.m. ET (10:45 GMT), mirroring gains in their Wall Street

peers.

World stocks recovered some losses on Monday as investors

reversed some of their more defensive positions taken going into

the weekend on fears of a wider Middle East conflict.

The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index

had, however, ended up 0.5% on Friday, as energy and

interest rate-sensitive shares notched gains.

The index pared some of its weekly decline, ending 0.4%

lower.

On the commodities front, gold prices fell more than 1% as

easing fears of a wider Middle East conflict boosted investors'

risk appetite, while copper prices moved upwards.

Oil prices also dropped over 1%, as the market focus

switched to fundamentals after Israel and Iran played down the

risk of an escalation of hostilities in the region.

Data-wise, a March reading of key inflation data is due in

the U.S. later in the week, alongside retail sales numbers for

the month in Canada.

Investors will monitor the datasets for more clues on the

timing of interest rate cuts in the year by central banks at

home and the U.S.

Big tech companies in the U.S., including Microsoft ( MSFT )

, Alphabet and Meta, are reporting

their quarterly earnings this week.

Meanwhile, miners like First Quantum and Teck

Resources, among others, are set to report their

figures in Canada.

In company news, Gildan Activewear ( GIL ) recommended the

election of two Browning West nominees to its board on Monday,

ahead of its annual and special shareholder meeting on May 28.

COMMODITIES AT 6:45 a.m. ET

Gold futures: $2,360.3; -1.7%

US crude: $82.81; -0.4%

Brent crude: $86.74; -0.6%