Bay Street Likely To Open With Positive Bias

(RTTNews) - The Canadian market may open with a positive bias on Wednesday, as technology shares are likely to see some buying after U.S. tech majors Microsoft and Alphabet reported stronger than expected quarterly earnings.

Activity may well remain stock specific with investors reacting to a slew of earnings announcements from Canadian companies.

Precision Drilling Corp. (PD.TO) reported first quarter net earnings of C$96 million or C$5.57 per share compared with a net loss of C$44 million or a C$3.25 loss per share in the first quarter of 2022.

Cenovus Energy Inc (CVE.TO) reported net earnings of $636 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared with net earnings of $784 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Rogers Communications Inc (RCI.A.TO) reported adjusted net income of $553 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, compared with adjusted net income of $462 million a year ago.

CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO) reported net earnings of $419.4 million inthe second-quarter of its current financial year, up $12.7% from a year ago.

FirstService Corp (FSV.TO) reported consolidated revenues of $1.02 billion for the first quarter, up 22% relative to the same quarter in the prior year.

The Canadian market ended sharply lower on Tuesday, dragged down by losses in energy, financials, industrials and technology stocks. Concerns about turmoil in the banking sector resurfaced after First Republic reported a loss of more than $100 billion in deposits in the first quarter. Disappointing results from several other U.S. companies to hurt sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 236.87 points or 1.15% at 20,439.87, a six-week closing low.

Asian stocks ended weak on Wednesday, although regional losses remained capped by consensus-beating earnings results from tech giants Microsoft and Alphabet. Economic jitters and interest rate concerns weighed on sentiment.

European stocks are down firmly in negative territory, weighed down by weak U.S. economic data and worries about interest rates and banking sector jitters.

In commodities trading, West Texas International Crude oil futures are down $0.21 or 0.27% at $76.86 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $1.30 or 0.07% at $2,005.80 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.243 or 0.98% at $25.125 an ounce.