Bay Street Likely To Open On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Higher commodity prices and fairly steady European markets point to a positive start for Canadian stocks Friday morning. The focus will be on U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) data, as the Fed's preferred inflation gauge is expected to provide clues about the outlook for interest rates.

On the Canadian economic front, final data on Canada's GDP for the month of April, and a preliminary report on the nation's GDP in May, are due at 8:30 AM ET.

According to a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business, the CFIB business barometer in Canada, which reflects 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, dipped to 56.3 in June 2024, down slightly from an upwardly revised 56.6 in the previous month.

The Canadian market ended on a firm note on Thursday, led by gains in technology, real estate, healthcare and energy stocks.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 148.26 points or 0.68% at 21,942.16. The Index, which opened at 21,798.38 touched a high of 21,956.71 in the session.

Asian stocks gained on Friday ahead of a key U.S. inflation reading later in the day that could influence the Federal Reserve's decision on when to begin cutting interest rates.

European stocks are broadly higher, aided by data showing a 0.7% growth in UK GDP in the first quarter. While the UK's FTSE 100 and Germany's DAX are moderately higher, France's CAC 40 is down ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.57 or 0.71% at $82.31 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $8.70 or 0.37% at $2,345.30 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.399 or 1.36% at $29.655 an ounce.