Bay Street May Open Higher

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks may open with a slightly positive bias on Wednesday, tracking higher oil and gold prices, and fairly encouraging earnings reports from Royal Bank of Canada and National Bank of Canada.

Data on Canadian services and manufacturing activity in the month of November is due at 9:30 AM ET.

Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO) reported adjusted net income of $5.6 billion and EPS of $3.85, both up 25% compared to the prior year.

National Bank of Canada (NA.TO) reported a net income of $1,059 million for the fourt quarter of its latest financial year, up 11% from $955 million in the fourth quarter of 2024. Diluted earnings per share stood at $2.57 compared to $2.66 in the fourth quarter of 2024.

CGI (GIB) announced the acquisition of Online Business Systems, an IT consulting firm based in Winnipeg. The company said the integration of Online Business Systems expands CGI's reach among enterprise clients in Canada and the United States. More than 350 professionals are joining CGI across Canada and the United States.

Enbridge, Inc. (ENB.TO) said it expects to finish the year in the upper half of the EBITDA range of $19.4 billion to $20.0 billion.

TELUS Corporation (TU) provided an updated mid-term outlook and further details of its enhanced capital allocation framework, including a new multi-year free cash flow growth target. TELUS said it expects to generate about $2.15 billion in free cash flow in 2025, in line with prior targets. From 2026 to 2028, it aims for a minimum compounded annual free cash flow growth rate of 10%. The preliminary free cash flow target for 2026 is $2.4 billion, with capital expenditures of approximately $2.3 billion.

The Canadian market ended weak on Tuesday as traders largely stayed away on the sidelines, choosing to wait for interest rate decisions from the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down by 52.50 points or 0.17% at 31,049.28.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as a cryptocurrency rebound lost steam and focus shifted to key U.S. economic data and upcoming central bank decisions.

The major European markets are up in positive territory with somewhat encouraging regional services sector activity reports.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.87 or 1.52% at $59.51 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $10.00 or 0.25% at $4,230.80 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.048 or 0.07% at $58.665 an ounce.