Bay Street Likely To Open With Slightly Positive Bias

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open with a positive bias Thursday morning, tracking higher crude oil and bullion prices. Activity for most part of the session is likely to be stock specific with investors reacting to a slew of quarterly earnings announcements.

On the economic front, a report on Canadian manufacturing activity in the month of July is due at 9:30 AM ET. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI held steady at 49.3 in June, unchanged from a month earlier.

In earnings news, Canadian Natural Resources Inc. (CNQ.TO) reported adjusted net earnings of $1,892 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2023, compared to $1,256 million in the year-ago quarter.

Thomson Reuters Corporation (TRI.TO) reported an operating profit of $415 million for the second-quarter, compared to $825 million a year ago.

TC Energy Corp (TRP.TO) reported a net income of $1.0 billion or $0.93 per common share for the second quarter of 2024, compared to $0.3 billion or $0.24 per common share in second quarter 2023.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) reported net earnings for $1,000 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to $866 million in the year-ago quarter.

BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) announced that it posted net earnings of $604 million in the second quarter, up 52.1% compared to its net earnings a year ago.

Gildan Activewear Ltd. (GIL.TO) reported adjusted net earnings of $124.7 million for the second quarter of this financial year, up from $112.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Colliers International Group Inc. (CIGI.TO) reported operating earnings of $114.7 million for the second quarter of the current financial year, compared to $75.3 million a year ago.

The Canadian market rose to a fresh record high on Wednesday, moving past a high registered about a fortnight ago, as the Federal Reserve hinted at some rate cuts in the coming months.

Higher crude oil and gold prices contributed as well to the market's upmove.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 286.14 points or 1.25% at 23,110.81, after hitting a fresh all-time high at 23,209.68.

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Thursday as the U.S. dollar sank against the yen and a private survey showed China's factory activity shrank for the first time in nine months in July.

European stocks are down firmly in negative territory, weighed down by a slew of disappointing earnings as well as downbeat PMI and unemployment data.

The final manufacturing PMI for eurozone came in unchanged from June at 45.8, a tad higher than the preliminary estimate of 45.6. Separate data from Eurostat showed that the unemployment rate in eurozone came in at 6.5% in June, up from 6.4% in May.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England has lowered its benchmark rate by a quarter point with as policymakers saying it is appropriate to reduce slightly the degree of policy restrictiveness. The Monetary Policy Committee decided to cut the bank rate by a quarter-point to 5.00 percent from 5.25 percent, which was the highest since early 2008. In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.48 or 0.58% at $78.36 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $12.50 or 0.51% at $2,485.50 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.127 or 0.43% at $29.065 an ounce.