Bay Street May Open Slightly Higher

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares may open higher on Monday, with materials shares finding some support on higher metal prices. However, amid a lack of prominent triggers, movements are likely to remain somewhat lackluster for much of the day's session.

A report on Canadian manufacturing activity during the month of March is due at 8:30 AM ET. The S&P Global Canada Manufacturing PMI rose to 49.7 in February, from 48.3 a month earlier.

In company news, Parkland Corporation (PKI.TO) announced that its Burnaby Refinery safely returned to normal operations on March 29, following an unplanned shutdown due to extreme cold weather on January 12.

During the shutdown period, the refinery accelerated maintenance and refining optimization work, which is previously scheduled for the third quarter. As a result, the company expects refinery to deliver composite utilization of around 20 percent and adjusted EBITDA loss of $60 million to $65 million, for the first quarter.

The Canadian market is up in positive territory Thursday morning, led by gains in materials stocks thanks to a surge in gold prices. Energy and consumer discretionary stocks are finding some support, while shares from other sectors are turning in a mixed performance.

Data showing stronger than expected Canadian and U.S. GDP growth contribute to the positive mood in the market.

Asian stocks turned in a mixed performance in thin holiday trading on Monday, with markets in Hong Kong, New Zealand and Australia closed for holidays.

The major European markets are closed today for Easter holiday.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.33 or 0.4% at $82.84 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $28.80 or 1.3% at $2,267.20 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.179 or 0.72% at $25.095 an ounce.