Bay Street Likely To Open Higher

(RTTNews) - Higher crude oil and gold futures point to a positive start for the Canadian market Monday morning.

The focus will be on the upcoming policy meetings of the U.S. Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan.

TC Energy Corporation (TRP.TO) announced today that it has entered into an agreement to sell a 40% stake in its Columbia Gas Transmission and Columbia Gulf Transmission systems for C$5.2 billion.

CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO) shares will be in focus on reports the company is planning to invest C$1 billion over three years on the expansion of its artificial intelligence services and solutions.

On the economic front, preliminary data on Canada's wholesale sales for the month of June is due at 8:30 AM ET.

The Canadian market ended on a firm note on Friday, although investors appeared a bit reluctant to make big moves ahead of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy meeting.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended the day's session with a gain of 110.64 points or 0.54% at 20,547.51. The index gained about 1.4% in the week.

Asian stocks closed mostly higher on Monday amid bets that the U.S. Federal Reserve would pause its tightening campaign after delivering a 25-bps hike this week. Chinese stocks closed lower, weighed down by losses posted by property developers due to liquidity concerns.

European stocks are subdued with weak Eurozone business activity data and an inconclusive election result in Spain rendering the mood cautious.

The HCOB Flash Eurozone Composite PMI Output Index, which gauges activity in the manufacturing and services sector, fell to an eight-month low of 48.9 in July from 49.9 in June.

French and German PMI data also came in weaker than expected, raising fears of a recession.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.48 or 0.61% at $77.55 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $2.50 or 0.13% at $1,969.10 an ounce, while Silver futures are down marginally at $24.830 an ounce.