Bay Street Seen Opening On Weak Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are likely to open on a weak note Thursday morning, weighed down by weak commodity prices, and global stocks. Disappointing earnings from U.S. tech giants Meta Platforms and Microsoft may also weigh.

Canadian GDP data for the month of August is due at 8:30 AM ET. Canada's GDP is expected to remain unchanged in August, after expanding by 0.2% in July.

A report from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business said the CFIB's Business Barometer, a long-term index reflecting 12-month forward expectations for business performance in the country, edged up to 55.8 in October 2024 from an upwardly revised 55.1 in September.

Canadian Natural Resources Inc (CNQ.TO) reported net earnings of $2,266 milliom for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, compared with net earnings of $2,344 million in the year-ago quarter.

Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) reported third-quarter net earnings of $820 million, compared with $1,000 million in the year-ago quarter.

Open Text Corporation (OTEX.TO) reported first-quarter net income of $84 million, compared with $81 million a year ago.

Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL.TO) said posted net earnings of $131.5 million in the third-quarter, up from $127.4 million in the year-ago quarter.

Veren Inc (VRN.TO) reported net income of $277.2 million for the quarter ended September 30, 2024, as against net loss of $809.9 million a year ago.

The Canadian market ended weak on Wednesday, weighed down by losses in materials and technology sectors. Investors digested earnings updates from Canadian and U.S. companies, and awaited U.S. non-farm payroll data and Canadian GDP report, due later in the week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 54.76 points or 0.22% at 24,507.79 after scaling a low of 24,428.10 and a high of 24,571.26 intraday.

Asian stocks ended broadly lower on Thursday, as investors reacted to mixed earnings from U.S. technology companies and signals from the Bank of Japan that further rate increases are still on the horizon.

Chinese markets bucked the weak regional trend ahead of a highly anticipated top legislative bond meeting scheduled in Beijing on November 4-8, with investors awaiting details of stimulus measures.

European stocks are down in negative territory Thursday afternoon, weighed down by data showing a bigger than expected increase in eurozone inflation.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude futures are up $0.49 or 0.71% at $69.10 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $9.90 or 0.35% at $2,790.90 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.310 or 0.91% at $33.765 an ounce.