Bay Street Likely To See Positive Start

(RTTNews) - Higher Canadian and U.S. futures, firm commodity prices and steady European stocks point to a positive start for the Canadian market on Tuesday.

The U.S. inflation data is likely to significantly impact price movements in the market. The focus will be on the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision and the accompanying statement, due on Wednesday.

There is some optimism the Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank and the Bank of England will all tone down their hawkish stances to help prevent a potential recession.

The Canadian market ended modestly higher on Monday after a cautious session as investors looked for direction. Worries about a surge in Covid cases in China hurt sentiment and limited market's upside.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up by 72.63 points or 0.36% at 20,019.70, almost at the day's high.

Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Tuesday, although overall gains remained modest amid caution ahead of key U.S. inflation data and a slew of central bank policy meetings due this week.

European stocks struggled for direction in cautious trade on Tuesday as investors braced for the release of U.S. consumer inflation data later in the day and a slew of central bank decisions due this week.

The U.S. central bank is widely expected to raise interest rate by 50 basis points (bps) on Wednesday, down from the 75 bps hikes in its last four meetings.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January are up $0.45 or 0.62% at $73.62 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $8.10 or 0.45% at $1,800.40 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.287 or 1.2% at $23.690 an ounce.