Dec 27 (Reuters) - Futures linked to Canada's main stock

index dipped on Friday, tracking Wall Street peers, as investors

returned after a two-day Christmas break to the end of a quieter

week.

March futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 0.09%

at 6:10 a.m. ET (11:10 GMT).

Wall Street futures eased on Friday at the end of an upbeat

holiday-shortened week for the main indexes.

Among commodities, gold prices eased but were set for

a weekly gain as investors gravitated towards safe-haven assets

amid political uncertainty in the Middle East.

Oil, rose slightly and was on track for a

weekly gain, spurred by expectations of a stimulus-driven

economic recovery in China and by forecasts of lower U.S.

inventories.

The composite index ended higher on Tuesday in

thin trading on Christmas Eve.

Meanwhile, in a bid to address the looming threat of U.S.

tariffs, Canada's new Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc and

Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly will meet aides to U.S.

President-elect Donald Trump in Florida on Friday.

Canada is the world's fourth-largest oil producer and the

sixth-largest natural gas producer. The vast majority of its 4

million barrels per day of crude exports go to the U.S.

Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on imports from Canada,

until the country stops drugs and migrants crossing its border

with the U.S.

In corporate news, silver ore mine operator Sierra Metals ( SMTSF )

said on Thursday that majority of its shareholders

rejected a takeover bid from Peru-based Alpayana as inadequate.

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($1 = 1.4401 Canadian dollars)