On Monday, Bay Street is projected to open on a bullish note, driven by stable crude oil and bullion prices, as well as burgeoning European markets. However, investor sentiment is expected to be tempered in anticipation of the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision, to be announced on Wednesday.
Sierra Metals Inc reported a net loss of $13.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. This was a significant drop from the net loss of $26.5 million reported in the same quarter of the previous year.
Africa Oil Corp. announced on the same day that it has presented a cash offer to minority shareholders in Impact Oil and Gas Ltd. to purchase as much as 8% of the issued shares in Impact. The offer stands at a rate of US$0.728 per Impact share, with considerations amounting to as much as US$64 million. This suggests a full-company valuation of roughly US$805 million.
CI Financial Corp, a globally diversified asset and wealth management company, posted a striking 17.1% increase in preliminary total assets, climbing from $397.8 billion in February 2023 to $465.8 billion at the end of February 2024.
In economics, Statistics Canada revealed a 0.7% increase in industrial producer prices in February after four consecutive monthly declines. Annually, producer prices decreased by 1.7% in February following a 2.9% drop in the preceding month.
Moreover, raw materials exhibited a 2.1% price increase in February compared to 1.2% in January, while the annual decrease for the same month stood at 4.7%.
On Friday, the Canadian market closed slightly higher, bolstered by gains in the healthcare, materials, and utilities sectors. However, investor confidence remained shaky as they remained focused on the upcoming U.S. central bank's monetary policy meeting.
Closing at 21,849.15, the benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index gained 0.09% or 19.30 points after an afternoon low of 21,788.67. For the week, the index saw an overall growth of 0.51%.
Asian stocks, mostly in positive territory on Monday, were boosted by China's stronger-than-expected industrial output and retail sales figures as well as the prospect of several central bank decisions. Chinese markets were particularly buoyed by mixed economic data which sustained hopes of potential stimulus.
Conversely, European markets showed modest gains as investors responded to a decrease in eurozone inflation during February while anticipating the Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision due later in the week.
On the commodities front, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures rose by $0.33 or 0.41% to $81.37 a barrel. Gold futures saw gains of $3.50 or 0.17% to settle at $2,165.00 an ounce, and Silver futures increased by $0.104 or 0.41% to $25.485 an ounce.
