Higher Commodity Prices Point To Slightly Positive Start On Bay Street

(RTTNews) - Higher crude oil bullion prices point to a positive start for the Canadian market Wednesday morning. However, U.S. inflation data, which is due before the opening bell, is likely to significantly impact investor sentiment in early trades.

The Labor Department's consumer price inflation data is due at 8:30 AM ET. Analysts expect the headline CPI to have risen 0.2% month-on-month in August, unchanged from the previous month.

In Canadian corporate news, Dollarama, Inc. (DOL.TO) reported Wednesday that net earnings for the second quarter increased to $285.94 million or $1.02 per share from $245.76 million or $0.86 per share in the prior-year quarter.

Canadian stocks tumbled after a slightly flat start Tuesday morning, but recovered gradually as the day's session progressed and eventually ended with a marginal loss.

The benchmark SMI, which was down by about 235 points at 22,791.55 at noon, ended the day's session with just a marginal loss of 24.06 points or 0.1% at 23,003.09.

Asian stocks declined on Wednesday as investors watched the latest updates on the Trump-Harris presidential debate and braced for U.S. consumer price inflation data that could influence the Federal Reserve's policy moves next week.

European stocks are slightly higher ahead of U.S. consumer inflation data. The focus is also on the European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement due on Thursday. The ECB is widely expected to lower interest rates for the second time this year.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $1.65 or 2.5% at $67.39 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $8.00 or 0.32% at $2,551.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.531 or 1.86% at $29.145 an ounce.