Bay Street Likely To Open On Cautious Note

(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. futures point to a cautious start for the Canadian market on Tuesday. Higher crude oil prices might trigger some buying in the energy section.

With the Federal Reserve's policy announcement due on Wednesday, traders are likely to largely refrain from making big moves. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rates by another 75 basis points.

Preliminary data on Canadian wholesale sales for the month of June is due out at 8:30 AM ET.

On the earnings front, Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) and First Quantum Minerals (FM.TO) are scheduled to announce their quarterly results today.

After opening slightly higher and briefly slipping into negative territory, the Canadian market recovered and stayed positive right till the end of the session on Monday to sign off on a firm note. The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a gain of 121.56 points or 0.64% at 19,104.48.

Asian stocks struggled for direction before ending mixed on Tuesday as investors braced for a busy week of earnings and economic data in the United States.

Fears about economic growth continued to weigh after top U.S. retailer Walmart struck a downbeat tone on the health of the U.S. consumer. Tech heavyweights Apple, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon are due to report their financial results this week.

European stocks are turning in a mixed performance with the focus on the upcoming policy announcement from the Federal Reserve. Commodity-linked stocks are gaining some ground, offsetting worries about an impending recession.

In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are gaining $1.75 or 1.8% at $98.45 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $3.30 or 0.21% at $1,715.80 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.047 or 0.26% at $18.375 an ounce.