Bay Street Likely To Open With Positive Bias

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open with a positive bias Monday morning, continuing to benefit from hopes the Federal Reserve will slow the pace of interest rate hikes following soft inflation data from the U.S.

With the U.S. market closed for Martin Luther King Jr day, activity is likely to be somewhat limited today.

Investors may look to take some profits after six successive days of gains.

The Canadian market ended on a strong note on Friday, extending recent gains, amid easing concerns about interest rates and expectations about economic growth.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 148.90 points or 0.74% at 20,360.10, gaining for a sixth straight session. The index touched a low of 20,147.57 and a high of 20,379.95.

Asian stocks ended broadly higher on Monday after Chinese health officials said COVID fever and emergency hospitalizations have peaked in the country. China's central bank left its medium-term lending facility rate unchanged and added more funds to maintain sufficient liquidity in the financial system.

European shares are slightly higher, with sentiment supported by signs of cooling inflation in the U.S. and expectations of a strong consumption-driven recovery in China.

The World Economic Forum kicks off today in Switzerland, with the war in Ukraine, economic instability and uncertainty and climate change on the agenda.

In European economic news, German wholesale price inflation eased to 12.8% in December from 14.9% in November, Destatis reported. This was the slowest rate since August 2021, when prices moved up 12.3%.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.25 or 0.31% at $79.61 a barrel.

Gold futures are lower by $3.70 or 0.19% at $1,918.00 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.137 or 0.56% at $24.235 an ounce.