Bay Street Likely To See Muted Open

(RTTNews) - It's likely to be a muted start for Canadian stocks Thursday morning, amid a lack of positive triggers from global stock markets, and a mixed trend in the commodities markets.

In Canadian earnings news, ATS Corporation (ATS.TO) reported fourth-quarter net income of $48.5 million compared to $29.6 million a year ago.

Lightspeed Commerce Inc (LSPD.TO) reported a net loss $32.5 million, or $0.21 per share, for the fourth-quarter, compared to a net loss of $74.5 million or $0.49 per share.

After posting losses in the previous three sessions, the Canadian market turned a bit positive on Wednesday and ended the day's session modestly higher, led by gains in utilities and technology sectors.

Data from the Labor Department showing a smaller than expected increase in U.S. consumer prices in the month of April helped ease concerns about the outlook for interest rates and aided sentiment.

Investors also digested a slew of other economic data from the U.S., and Canada, and some corporate earnings updates.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which retreated after a positive start, recovered and stayed above the flat line to eventually end the session with a gain of 41.42 points or 0.19% at 22,284.76. The index, which climbed to 22,334.69 in early trades, swiftly dropped to 22,214.61 before recovering lost ground.

Asian stocks rallied on Thursday after Wall Street's three major indexes notched record closes overnight on optimism that inflation is heading back in the right direction and that there will be two interest rate cuts by the U.S. Federal Reserve in 2024.

European stocks are subdued with investors largely refraining from making significant moves.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.13 or 0.18% at $78.76 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $6.50 or 0.28% at $2,388.40 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.146 or 0.49% at $29.875 an ounce.