Bay Street Seen Opening On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open on a positive note on Thursday, tracking higher commodity prices and firm Asian and European markets.

The Federal Reserve's pledge to rein in inflation by taking appropriate measures in the upcoming months appears to have helped ease concerns about soaring prices.

In company news, Dye & Durham Limited (DND.TO) said Wednesday that it has made a second revised proposal to Link Administration Holdings Limited (LNK.AX) with respect to its offer to acquire Link Group.

Dye & Durham's latest proposal of up to A$4.70 per Link Group share is comprised of A$4.57 per share in base consideration under the proposed acquisition's scheme implementation deed and up to A$0.13 per share contemplated under the scheme implementation deed for the proceeds from the sale of Link Group's Banking and Credit Management business. Last month, company had reduced its offer price to A$4.30 per Link Group share from an offer price of A$5.50 per share it had announced in December 2021.

On the economic front, data on Canada's trade balance for the month of May is due at 8:30 AM ET.

Canada posted a trade surplus of C$ 1.5 billion in April of 2022, narrowing from a downwardly revised 2.3 billion surplus in the prior month. Imports rose by 1.9% to a record high of C$ 62.8 billion in April, while exports rose at a slower 0.6% to a record high of C$ 64.3 million.

The Ivey PMI reading from the Richard Ivey School of Business for the month of June is due at 10 AM ET. The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index in Canada rose to 72 in May of 2022 from 66.3 in the previous month.

Despite coming off the day's lows, the Canadian market ended on a weak note on Wednesday due to sharp losses in energy and consumer sections. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 104.50 points or 0.55 percent at 18,729.66.

Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Thursday despite the U.S Federal Reserve's minutes of the meeting held last month indicating a hawkish stance. According to the minutes, officials said an increase of 50 or 75 basis points would be likely at the policy later this month.

European stocks are up sharply today, extending gains from the previous session, after the FOMC meeting minutes showed that policymakers are determined to tame soaring inflation. Strong earnings guidance from Samsung Electronics for the second quarter, and commodity prices' fall from recent highs also contribute to easing worries about inflation.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $1.02 or 1.04% at $99.55 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $6.70 or 0.4% at $1,743.20 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.226 or 1.18% at $19.385 an ounce.