Bay Street Likely To Open On Firm Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are headed for a fairly bright start Friday morning, tracking firm global stocks and higher commodity prices. The focus will be on Canadian GDP, and U.S. personal expenditure data.

Data on Canadian GDP for the month of July is due at 8:30 AM ET. Preliminary data on GDP for the month of August is also due at 8:30 AM ET.

A report on Canadian government budget balance for the month of July is due at 11 AM ET. Canada's budget surplus narrowed to C$2.1 billion in June, from C$4.9 billion in the corresponding month of the previous year.

BlackBerry Ltd. (BB.TO) reported a net loss of US$42 million for the second quarter as revenues declined 21% from a year earlier. The company had posted a net loss of US$54 million in the second quarter of the previous financial year.

Aritzia Inc. (ATZ.TO) reported second quarter net revenue of $534 million, an increase of approximately 2% on top of outstanding growth of 50% in the second quarter of Fiscal 2023 and 75% in the second quarter of Fiscal 2022.

After declining sharply in the previous two sessions, the Canadian market turned in a positive performance on Thursday with several stocks moving higher on bargain hunting.

Consumer discretionary, consumer staples, technology, materials and financials stocks posted strong gains. Several stocks from industrials and communications sectors gained as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 154.76 points or 0.8% at 19,590.74, after scaling a low of 19,409.62 and a high of 19,629.01 intraday.

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Friday, with Hong Kong leading regional gains. Underlying sentiment was underpinned by a fall in oil prices and declining bond yields ahead of key U.S. inflation reading due later in the day.

Trading volumes were thin due to holidays in mainland China and South Korea.

European shares are notably higher, extending gains from the previous session, after data showed Eurozone inflation hit a two-year low in September - supporting expectations that the European Central Bank will keep interest rates on hold.

Eurostat reported that the Eurozone's annual inflation rate fell to 4.3% year-on-year in September, marking the lowest level since October 2021.

Elsewhere, data showed the British economy grew stronger than expected in the first quarter.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $1.07 or 1.15% at $92.78 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $5.70 or 0.3% at $1,884.30 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.534 or 2.35% at $23.275 an ounce.