Bay Street Likely To Open Higher Again

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open on a positive note Wednesday morning, tracking the firm trend in European markets, and higher commodity prices.

The undertone is likely to remain firm amid expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve at its upcoming monetary policy meeting.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.20 or 0.32% at $58.90 an ounce. Gold futures are gaining $51.70 or 1.25% at $4,215.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.818 or 1.6% at $51.440 an ounce.

Bank of America and Morgan Stanley have reported stronger than expected third-quarter earnings this morning. On Tuesday, Wells Fargo, JP Morgan, Citigroup and Goldman Sachs had reported results that beat estimates.

The Canadian market closed on an upbeat note on Tuesday, rebounding from Friday's losses, as mining stocks rallied after gold scaled a new peak.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index got off to a slightly positive start and kept moving higher as the day progressed to eventually settle with a strong gain of 502.72 points or 1.68% at 30,353.61.

Asian stocks rose broadly on Wednesday, recovering after three straight days of losses. Optimism about an interest rate cut by the Fed outweighed renewed U.S.-China trade tensions.

European stocks are mostly up amid bets on Fed interest rate cut. Luxury stocks are in demand after French luxury major LVMH reported stronger than expected third-quarter sales.

In Canadian economic news, data from Statistics Canada showed manufacturing sales dropped to -1% in August from 2.5% in July.

Meanwhile, wholesale sales in Canada decreased to -1.2% in August from 1.2% in July, the data said.

A separate data from Statistics Canada said car registrations in Canada decreased to 167,017 units in August from 179,801 units in July.