Bay Street Looks Headed For Weak Start

(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. futures and weak commodity prices point to a weak open on Bay Street Thursday morning. The U.S. PCE data, and a slew of earnings announcements from U.S. and Canadian companies are likely to make a notable impact on price movements in the market.

A report from the Commerce Department said its personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index climbed by 0.5% in September after rising by 0.3 in August. The report also said the annual rate of growth by the PCE price index accelerated to 3.6% in September from 3.4% in August.

The annual rate of growth by the core PCE price index ticked up to 3.1% in September from 3% in August.

Data from Statistics Canada showed wages in Canada increased 3.7% in August over the same month in the previous year.

In earnings news, Agnico Eagle Mines reported earnings per share of $3.68 for the third quarter, compared to $3.02 a year ago.

Whitecap Resources reported an EPS of $0.27 for the third quarter, compared to $0.17 in the year-ago quarter.

Eldorado Gold's EPS for the third quarter came in at $0.49, up from $0.41 a year ago.

Bausch Health Companies reported earnings per share of $1.77 for the third quarter, compared with $1.16 a year ago.

Teck Resources has reported third-quarter earnings per share of $1.88, compared with $0.76 in the year-ago quarter.

Restaurant Brands International's EPS for the third quarter came in at $1.54, up from $1.44 a year ago.

AltaGas reported earnings per share of $0.29 for the third quarter, compared with EPS of 0.04 last year.

The Canadian market closed modestly higher on Wednesday as investors assessed the reasons behind the interest rate decisions by the central banks of Canada and the U.S. while reports of a possible fresh war in the Middle East by next week triggered near-term inflation concerns. The BoC raised interest rate by 25 basis points, while the Fed decided to leave rates unchanged.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index remained volatile throughout the session before settling at 36,265.09, up by 93.60 points or 0.26%.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as investors reacted to the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision as well as earnings from tech heavyweights, including Alphabet, Microsoft and Samsung Electronics.

The major European markets are up firmly in positive territory today afternoon with investors largely reacting to corporate earnings announcements.

West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are down $0.98 or 0.95% at $101.80 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $10.70 or 0.27% at $4,040.90 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.971 or 1.8% at $52.695 an ounce.