Bay Street Likely To See Muted Start

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look headed for a muted start on Monday with investors looking for direction. With U.S. inflation data due later in the week, the mood is likely to remain a bit cautious.

Investors will continue to react to quarterly earnings updates.

The Canadian market ended higher on Friday, led by gains in technology and energy sectors. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up by 67.06 points or 0.34% at 19,654.47. The index shed about 0.9% in the week.

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance on Monday amid interest rate uncertainty and concerns over a possible government shutdown in the U.S.

The dollar and Treasuries gained ahead of crucial U.S. inflation data due this week, while gold struggled to gain after falling by the most in more than a month last week. Oil prices traded lower in Asian trade after rising sharply on Friday. Markets were closed in Singapore and Malaysia for a holiday.

China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 0.3 percent to 3,046.53 on optimism over an upcoming summit between U.S. President Joe Biden and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping in San Francisco this week.

European stocks are up in positive territory with investors looking ahead to inflation data from the U.S. and Eurozone for further clarity on the outlook for rates.

ECB Vice President Luis de Guindos said the labor market is beginning to weaken and the central bank will be in a better position to reassess the inflation outlook in December.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are down slightly at $77.16 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $1.30 or 0.06% at $1,939.00 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.156 or 0.7% at $22.125 an ounce.