Bay Street Seen Opening On Weak Note; Fed Policy Eyed

(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. futures and weak European stocks point to a negative start for the Canadian market on Wednesday.

The focus is on the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement, due later in the day. The Fed is widely expected to raise interest rate by 25 basis points. The accompanying statement is eyed for clues about future rate hikes.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan are scheduled to release their policy statements on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

Activity is likely to be stock specific with investors reacting to a slew of earnings announcements from Canadian companies.

Canadian National Railway (CNR.TO) reported second-quarter revenues of C$4,057 million, a decrease of C$287 million, or 7%, compared to the year-ago quarter. Operating income was C$1,600 million in the second quarter of this financial year, a decrease of C$169 million, or 10%, from a year ago.

Agnico Eagle Mines (AEM.TO) reported adjusted net income of C$ 544 million for the second quarter of this financial year, compared to adjusted net income of C$463 million in the year-ago quarter.

CGI Inc (GIB.A.TO) reported net earnings of $415.0 million for the second quarter, up 13.9% year-over-year.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. (L.TO) reported net earnings of $508 million for the quarter ended June 17, 2023, compared to net earnings of $387 million in the quarter ended June 18, 2022.

The Canadian market ended marginally down on Tuesday after stocks turned in a mixed performance. The mood was largely cautious with investors awaiting the Federal Reserve's monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 30.59 points or 0.15% at 20,551.53.

Asian stocks ended mostly lower on Wednesday as investors braced for another rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the day.

Odds are that Fed Chair Jerome Powell will signal additional rate hikes are not off the table, but the central bank will take a more gradual approach to rate rises based on incoming data.

Upcoming ECB and BOJ rate decisions also remained on investors' radar.

European stocks are down firmly in negative territory with investors awaiting the Fed interest rate decision later in the day.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down $0.91 or 1.14% at $78.72 a barrel.

Gold futures are up $9.80 or 0.5% at $1,973.50 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.034 or 0.14% at $24.790 an ounce.