Bay Street Likely To Open Slightly Weak

(RTTNews) - Sluggish commodity prices and subdued European stocks point to a slightly negative start for the Canadian market on Monday.

With major central banks, including the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England and the European Central Bank set to announce their interest rate decisions this week, the mood is likely to remain cautious.

The Canadian stock market ended marginally up on Friday thanks to strong gains in technology and energy sectors. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a small gain of 13.98 points or 0.07% at 20,714.48. The index scaled a low of 20,621.91 and a high of 20,762.95.

Asian stocks fell broadly on Monday as investors looked ahead to a busy week of central bank announcements and earnings updates from U.S. tech heavyweights Amazon, Apple, Alphabet and Meta Platforms.

Chinese shares eked out modest gains as traders returned to their desks after a week-long holiday.

China's Shanghai Composite index edged up 0.14 percent to 3,269.32 as the country reported a sharp drop in new COVID-related deaths during the Lunar New Year holiday and the State Council vowed to boost consumption this year.

European stocks are broadly lower in cautious trade with investors focusing on major earnings updates and looking ahead to a slew of central bank meetings.

Data showing a drop in German GDP is weighing as well.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down slightly at $79.66 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $3.70 or 0.19% at $1,925.70 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.158 or 0.68% at $23.780 an ounce.