Bay Street Likely To Open With Positive Bias

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look set to open with a positive bias on Wednesday, tracking steady European markets and higher crude oil prices. Optimism about Canada and the U.S. striking a trade deal is likely to help underpin sentiment.

On the economic front, a report on Canadian manufacturing activity in the month of June is due at 9:30 AM ET.

The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 46.1 in May of 2025 from 45.3 in the previous month, still pointing to a fourth successive deterioration in factory activity. Contractions in both output and new orders contributed to the deterioration in activity.

The Canadian market closed higher on Monday, buoyed by the announcement by the Finance Ministry that US-Canada trade talks have been renewed with an aim toward clinching a trade deal sooner.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index settled up 164.79 points or 0.6% at 26,857.11, a new closing high. The market was closed on Tuesday in observance of the Canada Day holiday.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at higher tariffs on certain countries after the July 9 deadline and Senate Republicans narrowly advanced his tax and spending bill, which risks $3tn deficit before Trump's term ends.

The U.S. dollar held near 3-1/2-year lows in Asian trade and gold edged down after two days of gains as investors awaited U.S. payroll data and assessed Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's cautious stance on rate cuts. Oil prices held steady ahead of key OPEC+ decision on August output policy.

The major European market are up in positive territory today with investors picking up stocks while awaiting the developments on the trade front.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.71 or 1.08% at $66.16 a barrel.

Gold futures are flat at $3,949.40 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.053 or 0.13% at $36.450 an ounce.