Futures for Canada's main stock index inched up on Wednesday ahead of a key rate decision where the Bank of Canada is widely expected to make its largest rate hike since the late 1990s to tackle an overheating economy and runaway inflation.
The S&P/TSX dropped 138.16 points to close Tuesday at 18,678.64.
September futures captured 0.1% Wednesday.
The Canadian dollar was up 0.26 cents to 76.99 cents U.S.
Rogers Communications says it will be crediting customers with the equivalent of five days service, after the Canadian telecoms operator suffered a major outage that paralysed the country's banking and emergency services last week.
The Bank of Canada gives its long-awaited interest rate announcement around 10 a.m. EDT today.
Economists polled by Reuters expect the rate to hit 3.25% by year-end, up from 0.25% at the start of 2022.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange stumbled 13.68 points, or 2.3%, Tuesday to 592.70.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures rose slightly Wednesday as investors awaited a key inflation report that is expected to show a fresh high.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials jumped 95 points, or 0.3%, early Wednesday to 31,061.
Futures for the S&P 500 hiked 12.5 points, or 0.3%, to 3,836.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite tacked on 48.25 points, or 0.4%, to 11,827.25.
Investors on Wednesday continued to monitor second-quarter earnings for clues into the health of U.S. companies. Delta Air Lines shares slipped 3.5% in pre-market trading after posting mixed results. Major banks including JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley are slated to post results Thursday.
The consumer price index, slated for release at 8:30 a.m. ET, is expected to climb by 8.8% in June on a year-over-year basis, according to Dow Jones’ survey of economists. That would be even higher than May’s 8.6% reading, which was the biggest increase since 1981.
The likely hot reading could prompt the central bank to hike another 75 basis points during this month’s meeting. Last month, the Federal Reserve raised its benchmark interest rates three-quarters of a percentage point to a range of 1.5%-1.75% in its most aggressive hike since 1994.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 gained 0.5% Wednesday. In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng lost 0.2%
Oil prices eked ahead 15 cents to $95.99U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gathered $1.50 to $1,726.30 U.S. an ounce.
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