Higher Commodity Prices Might Push Canadian Stocks Up In Early Trades

(RTTNews) - Bay Street is likely to open higher Monday morning, with resources stocks tracking the uptick in commodity prices. However, with a slew of important economic events, including the Federal Reserve and the Bank of England's policy announcements due this week, the mood is likely to remain cautious.

The Fed, which is scheduled to announce its monetary policy next Wednesday, is widely expected to hold rates unchanged, but the central bank's accompanying statement is eyed for clues about the likely timing of interest rate cuts.

On the Canadian economic front, GDP data and a report on manufacturing activity are due this week.

The Canadian market ended marginally up on Friday after a cautious session, with investors largely refraining from making significant moves as they continued to assess the likely move of the Federal Reserve next week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which moved between 21,079.90 and 21,142.31, ended the session with a gain of 23.74 points or 0.11% at 21,125.28. The index gained about 1.05% in the week.

Asian stocks closed higher on Monday after Chinese regulators announced new measures to bolster the country's equity market and the property sector.

However, the upside remained limited with investors largely turning cautious ahead of key earnings and economic data as well as central bank decisions.

European stocks are turning in a mixed performance with investors awaiting policy announcements from the Federal Reserve and Bank of England, and key data such as Chinese factory activity report, U.S. non-farm payrolls and euro zone GDP report.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.13 or 0.17% at $78.14 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $11.60 or 0.58% at $2,028.90 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.268 or 1.17% at $23.140 an ounce.