Dec 30 (Reuters) - Futures tracking Canada's main stock

index slipped on Monday as commodity prices retreated and higher

bond yields halted a global stocks rally towards the year's end.

March futures on the S&P/TSX index were down 0.03%

by 6:29 a.m. ET (1129 GMT), yet the TSX index looked

on course for around an 18% annual gain, its best year since

2021, largely helped by monetary policy easing.

Wall Street futures also dipped in light trading volumes as

elevated Treasury yields threatened to dent a historically

strong year-end period for U.S. equities.

Market participants at home are bracing for major policy

changes across the border, with Donald Trump's return to the

White House in January. Trump has pledged a 25% tariff on all

imports from Canada, in a blow to the country's crude exports to

the U.S.

Canada's new finance minister Dominic LeBlanc and foreign

affairs minister Melanie Joly met aides to Trump in Florida on

Friday to discuss the risks of imposing new tariffs.

On the data front, monthly U.S. employment data on January

10 could give investors a fresh view into the health of the

world's largest economy.

Canada's monthly employment data, released on the same day,

may provide cues on the Bank of Canada's rate trajectory. Bets

for a 25-basis-point rate cut by the central bank in January

currently stand at 67.6%.

In commodities, gold prices slipped in thin trade,

while other base metals were broadly mixed, with a stronger

dollar making the greenback-priced commodities more expensive

for holders of other currencies.

Oil prices, also fell as traders awaited more

Chinese and U.S. economic data later this week to assess growth

in the world's two largest oil consumers.

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