Bay Street Likely To Open On Mixed Note; Earnings, Fed Meeting In Focus

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look headed for a mixed start Tuesday morning with investors tracking commodity prices, and a slew of earnings updates from Canadian and U.S. companies. The focus will be on Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting, which gets underway today.

The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rate unchanged tomorrow. The focus will be on the accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference. Investors now expect the Fed to announce a rate cut in September.

On the Canadian economic front, final data on Canadian GDP for month of February, and a preliminary reading for the month of March, are due at 8:30 AM ET.

In Canadian earnings news, Ivanhoe Mines Ltd. (IVN.TO) reported adjusted EBITDA of $126 million for the first-quarter of 2024, compared with $172 million for the same period in 2023.

Restaurant Brands International (QSR.TO) reported adjusted profit of US$ 331 million, or US$ 0.73 per share for the first quarter of this year, compared with adjusted profit of US$ 340 million, or US$ 0.75 per share, last year.

Cameco Corporation (CCO.TO) reported first-quarter net loss of $7 million, or $0.02 per share, as against net profit of $119 million, or $0.27 per share in the first-quarter of the previous year.

The Canadian market ended slightly higher on Monday, thanks to gains in select healthcare, energy, materials and utilities stocks. Stocks moved in a tight band in somewhat lackluster moves by investors who stayed cautious, looking ahead to Fed policy announcement, and some crucial economic data, due later in the week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 42.38 points or 0.19% at 22,011.62, after moving between 21,903.05 and 22,052.06.

Asian stocks ended higher on Tuesday, with Chinese markets underperforming after the release of mixed PMI data.

European stocks are a bit subdued in cautious trade ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting. Investors are digesting the latest batch of economic data from the region.

Preliminary flash estimate from Eurostat showed that the euro area economy expanded in the first quarter after two consecutive declines, with gross domestic product growing by more-than-expected 0.3% on quarter following a 0.1% fall each in the fourth and third quarters of 2023.

The German economy also avoided recession in the first quarter, with GDP growing more-than-expected 0.2% sequentially in the first quarter, in contrast to the revised 0.5% decrease in the preceding period.

Meanwhile, headline inflation in the euro area came in at 2.4% in April, matching forecasts. On a monthly basis, inflation was 0.6%.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.58 or 0.7% at $83.21 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $36.70 or 1.56% at $2,321.00 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.875 or 3.16% at $26.785 an ounce.