Canadian shares look headed for a slightly positive start Monday morning, tracking higher crude oil and bullion prices. Data on Canada's factory activity is likely to provide some direction to the market.
Markit's report on Canadian manufacturing activity in the month of April is due out at 9:30 AM ET. In March, factory activity had expanded at the fastest pace in the survey's history, with the IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing PMI coming in with a reading of 58.5, up from 54.8 a month earlier. It was the 9th straight month of expansion in the country's factory activity.
The Canadian market ended on a weak note on Friday, losing for a second straight session. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down by 147.59 points or 0.77% at 19,108.33, nearly 25 points off the day's low of 19,084.96.
Canadian Pacific Railway Limited (CP.TO) said on Saturday that it has filed a formal objection with the Surface Transportation Board (STB) stating that Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) does not qualify for a waiver of the STB's rules for major transactions with respect to CN's unsolicited proposal for Kansas City Southern (KSU).
Asian stocks ended somewhat flat in thin holiday trading on Monday as investors digested a slew of manufacturing data and kept a wary eye on the COVID-19 surge in the region. Chinese and Japanese markets were closed for Labor Day and Constitution Memorial Day, respectively.
European stocks are modestly higher, riding on strong retails data from Germany and encouraging report on eurozone manufacturing activity.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.12 or 0.18% at $63.70 a barrel.
Gold futures are gaining $12.10 or 0.67% at $1,779.80 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.447 or 1.73% at $26.320 an ounce.
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