Bay Street Looks Headed For Positive Start

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open higher Thursday morning, tracking positive lead from Europe, and higher bullion prices. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell's testimony before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs will be in focus.

On Canadian economic front, the nation recorded a trade surplus of C$500 million in January. Exports dropped to C$62.29 billion, while imports decreased to C$61.79 million in the month.

Data from Statistics Canada showed building permits in Canada increased to 13.5% MoM in January from -11.5% in December.

On Wednesday, Powell told the House Financial Services Committee that it will be likely appropriate for the Fed to begin lowering interest rates at "some point this year." However, he reiterated officials need "greater confidene" inflation is moving sustainably toward 2%.

Bitfarms Ltd. (BITF.TO) reported a net loss of $57 million, or $0.19 for the fourth quarter, compared to net loss of $13 million, or $0.06, in the fourth quarter of 2022.

The Canadian market ended higher on Wednesday with materials and consumer discretionary stocks posting notable gains. The market reacted positively to the Bank of Canada's policy announcement, and Fed Chair Powell's testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which gained nearly 200 points in early trades, ended the session with a modest gain of 68.93 points or 0.32% at 21,593.96.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday, with Japanese markets falling heavily as the yen hit a one-month high against the dollar on growing speculation that the Bank of Japan could end negative interest rates this month.

Chinese and Hong Kong markets also ended lower as rising U.S.-China tensions overshadowed better-than-expected trade data for the first two months of the year.

European stocks recovered from early weakness and are up in positive territory, reacting to the European Central Bank's policy announcement.

The ECB decided to leave interest rates unchanged, as widely expected. The ECB expects the eurozone economy to grow 0.6% in 2024, down from an earlier forecast of 0.8%. The central bank expects inflation to be 2.3% this year, down from the previous projection of 2.7%.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.35 or 0.43% at $78.78 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $7.10 or 0.33% at $2,165.30 an ounce, while silver futures are down $0.58 or 0.24% at $24.435 an ounce.