Bay Street Seen Opening Higher
(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open higher on Wednesday, tracking firm commodity prices and positive European stocks.
The focus will be on the minutes from the Bank of Canada's latest policy meeting.
The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Tuesday, led by gains in energy stocks after oil prices rose sharply on hopes of an uptick in demand from China.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 96.08 points or 0.47% at 20,725.00 after scaling a low of 20,541.59 and a high of 20,775.72 intraday.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday amid signs of rising tensions between Washington and Beijing in recent days.
European stocks are up firmly in positive territory with investors reacting to remarks from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell who struck a less hawkish tone than feared in a question-and-answer session at the Economic Club of Washington, D.C.
In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.69 or 0.89% at $77.83 a barrel.
Gold futures are gaining $8.80 or about 0.5% at $1,893.60 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.303 or 1.37% at $22.480 an ounce.