Bay Street Likely To Open On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look headed for a positive start on Tuesday, in line with markets in Europe, and on higher commodity prices. Worries about tariffs may weigh and limit market's upside.

The dollar strengthened against peers after Trump said he plans to impose sweeping tariffs on steel, aluminum, copper, semiconductor, and pharma imports in a push to increase U.S. production of the products.

Investors await monetary policy announcements from the Federal Reserve, the Bank of Canada and the European Central Bank. While the Fed and BoC are scheduled to make their policy announcements on Wednesday, the ECB's announcement is due on Thursday.

Metro Inc. (MRU.TO) reported net earnings of $259.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025, up 13.6% compared to a year ago. Adjusted net earnings for the latest quarter came in at $245.4 million, which was up 4.4% compared to the year-ago quarter.

The Toronto-Dominion Bank (TD.TO) announced a domestic public offering of C$1 billion of medium term notes constituting subordinated indebtedness of the Bank. The Notes will be issued and sold through a dealer syndicate led by TD Securities Inc.

Bitfarms Ltd. (BITF) announced that it has entered into a binding Letter of Intent to sell its 200 MW site in Yguazu, Paraguay to HIVE Digital Technologies, Ltd (HIVE). The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2025.

Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) announced that it has tentatively reached a new four-year collective agreement with the labor union representing roughly 750 signals and communications workers across Canada.

After nine successive days of gains, the Canadian market turned weak on Monday, as stocks, particularly in the technology sector, tumbled on sustained selling pressure. Energy and materials stocks fell on weak commodity prices.

Tech stocks declined amid concerns about the impact of China's low-cost startup DeepSeek's emergence as a powerful AI model.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which opened with a big negative gap at 25,347.93 and slid to 25,204.06 subsequently, ended the session with a loss of 179.34 points or 0.7% at 25,289.15.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower in thin trade on Tuesday, with markets in China, South Korea, Taiwan and Indonesia closed for the Lunar New Year holidays.

Tariff worries persisted, with U.S. President Donald Trump's Treasury secretary pick, Scott Bessent, pushing for new tariffs and warning of a 'calamity' for middle-class Americans, if tax cuts expire at the end of this year.

European stocks are up firmly in positive territory a little past noon, recovering from previous session's losses, as investors focus on earnings and upcoming policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and European Central Bank.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.50 or 0.68% at $73.67 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $11.10 or 0.41% at $2,749.50 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.151 or nearly 0.5% at $30.565 an ounce.