Bay Street Looks Headed For Positive Start

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look headed for a positive start on Thursday, with energy and materials shares likely to gain on firm commodity prices.

Investors will also be reacting to earnings updates from major banks, in addition to a report from Markit Economics about manufacturing activity in the country.

Bank of Montreal (BMO.TO) reported fourth-quarter net income of $4,483 million, compared with $2,159 million in the year-ago quarter. Adjusted net income came in at $2,136 million for the fourth quarter, compared with $2,226 million a year ago.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) reported a net income of $1,185 million for the fourth quarter of 2022, compared with net income of $1,440 million in the year-ago quarter.

TD Bank Group (TD.TO) on Thursday reported fourth-quarter net income available to common shareholders of C$6.56 billion or C$3.62 per share, up sharply from C$3.72 billion or C$2.04 per share in the year-ago quarter.

On the economic front, data on Canadian labor productivity for the third quarter is due at 8:30 AM ET.

Markit Economics is scheduled to release a reading of Canadian manufacturing activity in the month of November at 9:30 AM ET. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI fell to 48.8 in October of 2022, down from 49.8 in September,

Canadian stocks rallied on Wednesday afternoon to end the session on a firm note as investors cheered Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments about interest rate hikes.

Speaking at an event at the Brookings Institution, Powell said that it makes sense to moderate the pace of rate increases as the country approaches the level of restraint that will be sufficient to bring inflation down. "The time for moderating the pace of rate increases may come as soon as the December meeting," he added.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 175.85 points or 0.87% at 20,453.26, near the day's high. The index touched a low of 20,137.12 in early trades.

Asian stocks rose notably on Thursday after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell hinted at slowing the pace of rate hikes and the giant Chinese cities of Guangzhou and Chongqing announced an easing of COVID curbs in the wake of nationwide rallies calling for an end to lockdowns.

European stocks are broadly higher with investors cheering Fed Chair Powell's dovish remarks on the pace of rate hikes, and on reports about easing of Covid curbs in China.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $1.00 or 1.2% at $81.55 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $40.50 or 2.3% at $1,800.40 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.629 or 2.89% at $22.410 an ounce.