Bay Street Seen Opening Higher; U.S. PCE Index Reading In Focus

(RTTNews) - Higher U.S. and Canadian futures, and firm commodity prices point to a positive opening for stocks on Bay Street Friday morning.

The focus will be on the core Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) Price Index reading, the U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred inflation measure, due at 8:30 AM ET.

On the Canadian economic front, a report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said its business barometer in Canada, an index reflecting 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, dropped to 47.5 in April, from an upwardly revised 52.9 in the prior month.

In earnings news, Imperial Oil Limited (IMO.TO) reported first-quarter net income of $1,195 million, compared to net income of $1,248 million in the year-ago quarter.

TFI International Inc (TFII.TO) reported first quarter net income of $92.8 million compared to $111.9 million in Q1 2023. Adjusted net income came in at $105.5 million in the first quarter of 2024, compared to $116.5 million a year earlier.

Eldorado Gold Corporation (ELD.TO) reported adjusted net earnings of $55.2 million for the first quarter of 2024, compared to adjusted net earnings of $16.7 million in the year-ago quarter.

After opening negative gap and plunging deeper into the red Thursday morning, the Canadian market recovered gradually and eventually ended slightly up.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which dropped about 235 points to 21,638.37 in early trades, rallied to 21,920.15 before settling at 21,885.38, gaining 11.66 points or 0.05%.

Asian stocks gained on Friday as Microsoft and Google's parent company Alphabet both beat Wall Street's first quarter expectations, offsetting Meta Platforms' disappointing forward guidance.

European stocks are up in positive territory on fairly strong results from Microsoft and Alphabet, and on ECB survey that showed Euro zone consumers lowered their expectation for inflation over the next 12 months in March.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.71 or 0.85% at $84.28 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $14.80 or 0.63% at $2,357.30 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.262 or 0.96% at $27.615 an ounce.