Bay Street Likely To See Positive Start

(RTTNews) - Fairly strong earnings updates from Canadian and U.S. companies and firm commodity prices point to a positive start on Bay Street Thursday morning.

In earnings news, Canadian Natural Resources Inc (CNQ.TO) reported adjusted net earnings from operations of $3.8 billion for the quarter ended June 2022, compared with net earnings of $1.5 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Thomson Reuters Corporation (TRI.TO) reported adjusted EPS of $0.60 per share for the second-quarter of this financial year, up from $0.48 per share in the year-ago quarter.

BCE Inc. (BCE.TO) reported second-quarter net earnings of $654 million, down 10.9%, from a year ago.

SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. (SNC.TO) reported net income from continuing operations of C$1.6 million or C$0.01 per share in the second quarter, significantly lower than C$29.2 million or C$0.17 per share in the same quarter a year ago.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc (LSPD.TO) reported a net loss of $100 million, or $0.68 per share for the second quarter, as compared to a net loss of $49.3 million, or $0.38 per share in the year-ago quarter.

Investors will also be digesting the data on Canada's trade balance for the month of June, and building permits.

The Canadian market closed higher on Wednesday, led by gains in technology, healthcare and financials sectors.

Buoyant U.S. services sector data aided sentiment, while weak crude oil prices weighed on energy stocks and limited market's upside. Materials shares were weak as well.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 40.61 points or 0.21% at 19,545.94, after scaling a low of 19,485.03 and a high of 19,616.12 intraday.

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Thursday as encouraging U.S. data and earnings helped ease recession concerns.

European stocks are up firmly in positive territory with investors reacting to earnings updates and the Bank of England's interest rate decision.

The Bank of England today raised its benchmark rate by half-a-percentage point given the more persistent inflationary pressures and the tight labor market conditions. The monetary policy committee of the central bank voted 8-1 to lift the bank rate by 50 basis points to 1.75%, the highest rate since December 2008. This was the sixth consecutive rate hike.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.54 or 0.6% at $91.20 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $27.60 or 1.55% at $1,804.00 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.441 or 2.22% at $20.335 an ounce.