Bay Street Seen Opening On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Higher U.S. futures and firm commodity prices point to a positive start for the Canadian market on Monday.

Optimism about China's reopening and easing concerns about interest rates are also likely to aid sentiment early on in the session.

Data on Canadian building permits for the month of November is due at 8:30 AM ET. The total value of building permits in Canada decreased by 1.4% over the month to C$ 10 billion in October of 2022, following an upwardly revised 18.2% surge in the prior month.

The Canadian market ended on a strong note on Friday, after data showing a drop in U.S. wage growth and a contraction in U.S. service sector activity in the month of December helped ease concerns about aggressive policy tightening by the Federal Reserve.

Meanwhile, data from Statistics Canada showed the Canadian economy created 104,000 jobs in December of 2022, beating market expectations of an addition of 8,000 jobs.

The unemployment rate in Canada was at 5% in December of 2022, the lowest since the record-low of 4.9% in June and July, decreasing from 5.1% in the prior month and beating market estimates of 5.2%.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended higher by 307.67 points or 1.58% at 19,814.51, just a few points off the day's high. The index gained about 2.22% in the week.

Asian stocks rallied on Monday, as signs of a slowdown in U.S. wage growth stoked hopes of smaller Fed rate hikes and China reopened its borders for the first time in three years.

China's Shanghai Composite index gained as Beijing prepares to relax restrictions on borrowing for property developers, and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index climbed nearly 2% amid expectations that Chinese economic growth will eventually rebound this year.

European stocks are broadly higher amid optimism surrounding China's reopening and expectations of slower rate hikes by the Federal Reserve. Encouraging German industrial production data is contributing as well to the positive mood in the markets.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $2.50 or 3.39% at $76.27 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $8.80 or 0.47% at $1,878.50 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.078 or 0.33% at $24.060 an ounce.