Bay Street Likely To Open Higher; BoC, Fed Rate Announcements Eyed

RTTNews | 322 days ago
Bay Street Likely To Open Higher; BoC, Fed Rate Announcements Eyed

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are likely to open on a positive note on Wednesday, tracking firm oil and metal prices. Expectations of interest rate cuts by the Bank of Canada and the Federal Reserve may also contribute to a steady open on Bay Street.

The Bank of Canada's policy announcement is due at 9:45 AM ET, while the Fed is scheduled to announce its policy at 2 PM ET.

Both BoC and the Fed are widely expected to lower rates by a quarter percentage point for the second straight meeting amid signs of economic weakness.

Canadian stocks moved mostly higher during trading on Tuesday, more than offsetting the modest weakness seen in the previous session.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index remained firmly positive throughout the day before closing up 143.92 points or 0.5% at 30,419.68.

The strength on Bay Street may have reflected optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of monetary policy announcements from both sides of the border on Wednesday.

Asian stocks closed broadly higher on Wednesday, with benchmark indexes in Japan and South Korea hitting new record highs, ahead of Fed interest rate decision later in the day. Investors also looked ahead to Trump-Xi meeting on Thursday.

Among the major European markets, the U.K. market is up firmly in positive territory, riding on gains in mining and healthcare stocks. German and French markets are roughly flat with stocks turning in a mixed performance.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.10 or 0.15% at $60.25 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $50.50 points or 1.25% at $4,033.60 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.941 or nearly 2% at $48.265 an ounce.

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