Bay Street Likely To See Weak Start

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares look headed for a negative start on Friday, tracking weak cues from Asian and European markets amid rising fears about a global recession.

The World Bank's latest report that warns of a global recession is expected to weigh on sentiment. The World Bank has warned that the world could face a recession next year amid simultaneous tightening of monetary policy by central banks.

World Bank economists warned that the actions may not be enough to bring high prices under control, leading to a need for more interest rate hikes, which in turn will put the brakes on growth.

The World Bank called for boosting production and removing supply bottlenecks to ease inflation.

Several indicators of global recessions are already "flashing signs", the report said. The global economy is now in its steepest slowdown following a post-recession recovery since 1970, it added.

On the Canadian economic front, data on Canadian housing starts for the month of August is due at 8:15 AM ET. Final data on Canadian wholesale sales for the month of July is due at 8:30 AM ET.

The Canadian market ended notably lower on Thursday amid concerns about rising inflation and the possible impact of tighter monetary policy on growth. Weak crude oil and bullion prices weighed on energy and materials shares.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 165.98 points or 0.84% at 19,560.16, nearly 40 points off the day's low of 19,521.29.

Asian stocks finished mostly lower, tracking Wall Street's losses on Thursday amidst fresh concerns over a hawkish interest rate decision by the Fed in its review next week.

European stocks are down firmly in negative territory around early afternoon today amid rising concerns about a recession in the U.S. and several other major economies due to rising interest rates.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October are up $0.86 or about 1% at $85.96 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $2.90 or 0.17% at 1,674.40 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.214 or 1.11% at $19.055 an ounce.