Bay Street Seen Opening On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares may open higher Tuesday morning, tracking positive global cues and strong earnings update from Scotiabank. Weak metal prices may weigh on materials stocks and limit market's upside.

Bank of Nova Scotia (BNS.TO) reported fourth quarter net income of $2,206 million, compared to $1,689 million in the year-ago quarter. Earnings per share rose to $1.65 in the fourth quarter of its current financial year, compared to $1.22 a year ago.

Royal Bank of Canada and National Bank of Canada are slated to report their earnings on Wednesday.

Toronto-Dominion Bank, Bank of Montreal and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce's results are due on Thursday, while Laurentian Bank will report its earnings on Friday.

Laurentian Bank of Canada (LB.TO) said today that it has agreed to sell its retail and SME banking businesses to National Bank of Canada. The move is part of an expanded execution of its 2024 Strategic Plan, aimed at focusing on commercial real estate lending, inventory and equipment financing, intermediary services and capital markets.

AltaGas Ltd. (ALA.TO) expects normalized EPS of $2.20-$2.45 for 2026, representing roughly 6% year-over-year growth, while normalized EBITDA is projected at $1.925 billion-$2.025 billion, up about 8% from 2025.

Canadian stocks closed lower on Monday as investors resorted to booking profits from record highs from Friday while refraining from making big moves ahead of the upcoming monetary policy meeting by the U.S. Federal Reserve.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index settled at 31,101.78, down by 281 points or 0.90%, retreating fro a new record closing high of 31,382.78.

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Tuesday despite a sell-off in bitcoin and fears about a repeat of the yen carry trade unwinding.

The major European markets are up in positive territory, recovering from previous session's weakness, as expectations of rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week, and positive progress in Ukraine peace talks lift sentiment.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.08 or 0.13% at $59.40 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $58.10 or 1.36% at $4,216.70 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $1.447 or 2.44% at $57.695 an ounce.