Bay Street Looks Headed For Positive Start; BoC Monetary Policy In Focus

(RTTNews) - Higher Canadian and U.S. futures, firm commodity prices and positive lead from European markets point to a higher open for stocks on Bay Street Wednesday morning.

The focus will be on Bank of Canada's monetary policy announcement, due at 9:45 AM ET.

The Canadian central bank is widely expected to leave interest rate unchanged. The accompanying statement and the subsequent press conference are eyed for the bank's outlook for the economy and interest-rate trajectory.

Orano Canada Inc. and Denison Mines Corp. (DML.TO), as joint-venture partners in the McClean Lake Joint Venture, announced Wednesday that the JV has approved a restart of uranium mining operations using the joint venture's patented Surface Access Borehole Resource Extraction (SABRE) mining method.

The Canadian market ended on a firm note on Tuesday, gaining for a fourth straight session, thanks to strong gains in materials sector.

The mood, however, remained somewhat cautious ahead of the Bank of Canada's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday, and some crucial economic data from the U.S., including a report on consumer and producer price inflation.

The Canadian central bank is widely expected to hold interest rates unchanged. The focus is on the bank's statement for clues about the outlook for interest-rate trajectory.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended up 110.29 points or 0.53% at 21,034.59, slightly off the day's high.

Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday, with Chinese and Hong Kong markets rallying on reports that Chinese authorities are preparing a package of measure to support the country's stock market.

The dollar traded higher in Asian trading ahead of U.S. growth and inflation data due later in the week, while oil seesawed between modest falls and gains.

European stocks are up in positive territory on data showing an improvement in euro zone economic activity in January. Markets are also reacting positively to Chian's central bank announcement that it would cut the amount of cash that banks must hold as reserves by 50 basis points from February 5th for the first time this year to help the economy.

Survey data from S&P Global revealed eurozone private sector activity declined at the slowest pace in six months in January. The The composite output index rose to a six-month high of 47.9 from 47.6 in December. The expected score was 48.0.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.36 or 0.5% at $74.73 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $9.60 or 0.47% at $2,035.40 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.478 or 2.1% at $22.940 an ounce.