Bay Street Likely To Open Higher; GDP Data In Focus

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open higher Friday morning, tracking positive cues from Europe. Data on Canadian GDP is likely to provide some direction as well.

Data on Canadian GDP for the month of April is due out at 8:30 AM ET. A preliminary reading of the nation's GDP in May is also due.

In company news, electric utility Hydro One Ltd. (H.TO) announced it has reached tentative settlements for two collective agreements with the Power Workers' Union (PWU) covering employees in front-line roles across the company's operations in Ontario.

The negotiations covered the renewal of two collective agreements: the main collective agreement, which includes front-line staff, and the Customer Service Operations collective agreement, which includes staff in customer facing roles.

The Canadian market ended higher on Thursday, gaining for the fourth consecutive session, led by gains in healthcare, energy and consumer discretionary sectors. Data on Canadian inflation, released on Tuesday, continued to aid sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 94.32 points or 0.48% at 19,913.17.

Asian stocksturned in a mixed performance on Friday amid weak Chinese data and expectations the Federal Reserve will likely keep interest rates higher for longer to bring the inflation rate down to the 2 percent target.

European stocks are up firmly in positive territory with investors cheering eurozone inflation and a a report on the labor market. Hopes of more policy stimulus from China too aid sentiment.

Eurozone consumer inflation fell to 5.5% in June from 6.1% in May, according to preliminary data from the European Union's statistics agency Eurostat.

At the same time, the region's unemployment rate held steady at 6.5% in May, matching expectations.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up marginally at $69.89 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $5.20 or 0.28% at $1,912.70 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.208 or 0.91% at $22.590 an ounce.