Canadian Shares Likely To Open On Positive Note

(RTTNews) - Bay Street looks headed for a positive start on Thursday, tracking firm crude oil prices and rising expectations the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) posted net income of $1,430 million in the third quarter of the current financial year, compared to $1,666 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

Laurentian Bank (LB.TO) reported third-quarter net income of $49.3 million, compared to $55.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

On the economic front, data from the Canadian Federation of Independent Business showed Canada's CFIB Business Barometer long-term optimism index increased by 0.4 points from the previous month to 54.8 in August.

The Canadian market ended marginally up on Wednesday after a somewhat lackluster session. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 39.91 points or 0.2% at 20,330.32, after scaling a low of 20,309.42 and a high of 20,403.36 intraday.

Despite easing concerns about U.S. interest rates after data showed a slowdown in private sector growth and a drop in second-quarter GDP growth, the mood in the Canadian market was a bit cautious with investors awaiting Canadian GDP data.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Thursday as investors digested key data from China and Japan and looked ahead to forthcoming inflation readings in Europe and the U.S. for additional clues on the outlook for interest rates.

Weak U.S. economic data released overnight dampened the dollar's strength while oil prices were little changed in Asian trade after climbing on Wednesday on bullish inventory data and hurricane jitters.

European stocks are broadly higher amid hopes that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its tightening cycle, and more stimulus measures from the Chinese government.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.78 or 0.96% at $82.41 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $1.40 or 0.07% at $1,971.60 an ounce, while Silver futures are lower by $0.159 or 0.64% at $24.575 an ounce.