Bay Street May Open Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are likely to open slightly higher Thursday morning, as materials stocks may move up on firm metal prices. Oracle's lower than expected quarterly revenue and lower than expected forecasts may weigh on technology stocks.

Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) reported a 16.6% increase in third-quarter net earnings at $321.7 million, compared to a year ago. Diluted net earnings surged 19.4% to $1.17 from 0.98% in the year-ago quarter.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE.TO) announced that it expects capital investment of between $5 billion and $5.3 billion for 2026, including around $350 million of capitalized turnaround costs. Excluding the turnaround costs capital investment is expected to be between $4.7 billion and $5 billion.

Empire Company Limited (EMP_A.TO) reported a profit of C$159 million or C$0.69 per share for the second-quarter, compared to C$173 million or C$0.73 per share last year.

Canadian stocks advanced on Wednesday as investors dissected the monetary policy outlook of the Bank of Canada and the reasoning for keeping interest rates unchanged, contrasting it with the rate cut instituted by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The S&P/TSX Composite Index settle at 31,490.85, up by 246.48 points or 0.79%.

In line with analysts' expectations, after two consecutive interest rate cuts, the Bank of Canada left rates unchanged and maintained its target for the overnight rate at 2.25% - with the Bank Rate at 2.50% and the Deposit Rate at 2.20%.

The Federal Reserve lowered its interest rates by 25 basis points to 3.50% to 3.75% even when inflation numbers in the U.S. remain elevated.

Asian markets witnessed weak sentiment in Thursday's trading as markets digested the Fed's widely expected rate cut, the forward guidance for 2026 and beyond, as well as the extent of dissent in the FOMC decision. Though markets turned cautious in the aftermath of the Fed's projection of a single rate cut for 2026, losses were limited by the less-than-expected hawkishness in the Fed's guidance.

The major European markets were up slightly a little while ago, with investors digesting the Federal Reserve's policy announcement, and the Swiss Central Bank's rate cut move.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.66 or 1.1% at $57.80 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $20.30 or 0.48% at $4,245.00 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $1.471 or 2.41% at 62.500 an ounce.