Bay Street Likely To Open Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market may open with a positive bias Monday morning, but the upside is likely to be limited as investors await the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision this week.

There are expectations that the Canadian central bank, which is scheduled to announce its interest rate decision on Wednesday (June 6), might cut interest rate by a quarter percentage point.

The European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement is due on Thursday.

Data on Canadian manufacturing activity in the month of May is due at 9:30 AM ET. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI dropped by 0.4 points from the previous month fo 49.4 in April, continuing to contract for the twelfth consecutive month.

Colliers International Inc (CIGI.TO) announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Englobe Corporation, a Canadian multi-discipline engineering, environmental and inspection services firm. As per the terms, Colliers will buy a "significant" controlling interest for approximately US$475 million in cash.

The Canadian market ended on a strong note on Friday thanks to some brisk buying at several counters in late afternoon trades. Optimism about interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve helped underpin sentiment. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a strong gain of 197.41 points or 0.89% at 22,269.12, near the day's high. The index shed 0.23% in the week.

Asian stocks rallied on Monday as soft U.S. inflation data revived rate cut hopes and a private survey showed China's factory activity grew the fastest in about two years in May due to production gains and new orders.

Indian markets led regional gains as exit polls indicated Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to win a third consecutive term in office. If Modi wins, he will become the second Indian leader to retain power for a third term after Jawaharlal Nehru.

European stocks are up in positive territory amid bets the European Central Bank will deliver its first interest-rate cut of the cycle on Thursday. Data showing an improvement in eurozone manufacturing activity in the month of May is also aiding sentiment.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.12 or 0.16% at $77.11 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $6.00 or 0.26% at $2,351.80 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.125 or 0.41% at $30.565 an ounce.