Bay Street Likely To Open With Negative Gap

(RTTNews) - Sharply lower Canadian and U.S. futures and weak commodity prices point to a gap down opening on Bay Street Tuesday morning.

The focus will be on the Federal Budget to be presented by Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney today.

The budget will reportedly include several billions of dollars in cuts and savings over the coming years and a change in the tax structure to promote competition, according to a senior Canadian official.

Worries about the potential impact of the government shutdown in the U.S., and lingering concerns about global economic growth due to the tariff policies of the Trump administration appear to be forcing investors to move away from riskier assets.

Quarterly earnings announcements will also be in focus.

As the U.S. government entered its sixth week, a survey showed on Monday that U.S. industrial sector activity remains under pressure from weak growth and tariff-related uncertainty.

The Canadian market closed slightly higher on Monday after data showed a slower contraction in manufacturing activity in the month of October.

After opening just above previous week's close, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gave ground early in the session but then recovered to finally settle with a small gain of 14.32 points or 0.05% at 30,275.06.

Data released by S&P Global revealed that Canada's Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.6 in October from 47.7 in September, indicating a somewhat slower contraction since January.

Asian stocks Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Tuesday as a tech rally fizzled out due to valuation concerns and investors weighed mixed messages from Federal Reserve officials over the path of interest rates.

The major European stocks are down firmly in negative territory today amid fears about global economic slowdown due to the tariff policies of the U.S. government. Mixed corporate earnings also appear to be forcing investors to stay away from riskier assets.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $1.00 or 1.65% at $60.05 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $11.90 or 0.3% at $4,002.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.599 or 1.27% at $47.450 an ounce.