Bay Street May Open With Negative Bias On Weak Commodity Prices

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market is likely to open with a negative bias on Friday, tracking weak crude oil and bullion prices. The focus is on the ADP data from the U.S., due this morning, and the Canadian and U.S. jobs reports, due on Friday, for clues about the rate decisions by the central banks of the two nations.

There are expectations that both the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve will lower interest rates this month. The two central banks are scheduled to announce their rate decisons on September 17th.

The Canadian market closed higher on Wednesday, investors adopting a cautious approach, awaiting upcoming jobs data that guides the monetary policy of the Bank of Canada.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which opened flat, fluctuated over the course of the session before closing at 28,751.36 up by 135.74 points, or 0.47%.

Asian stocks closed broadly higher on Thursday, even as Chinese and Hong Kong markets ended sharply lower following reports that China's financial regulators are considering a number of cooling measures for the stock market, including lifting certain short selling restrictions, increasing checks on speculative trades, and discouraging heavy retail participation.

Underlying sentiment remained supported as bond market jitters eased and weak U.S. labor market data fueled rate-cut bets.

European stocks are turning in a mixed performance with investors awaiting the crucial jobs reports from the U.S. for clues about Federal Reserve's policy stance.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.64 or 1.02% at $63.31 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $31.70 or 0.88% at $3,603.80 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.565 or 1.3% at $41.495 an ounce.