Futures tracking Canada's main stock index held steady on Wednesday as investors stayed away from big bets ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate decision later in the day.
The TSX Composite gained 91.57 points, to close Tuesday at 19,517.71.
December futures inched ahead 0.1% on Wednesday.
The Canadian dollar edged up 0.07 cents to 73.49 cents U.S.
Among individual shares, Cenovus Energy reported a nearly three-fold jump in its third-quarter profit, benefiting from higher energy prices due to rising demand as global supplies were hit by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Canada Goose Holdings trimmed its full-year revenue and profit forecast as COVID-19-related restrictions weigh down on its luxury parka sales in China.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada has not ruled out another oversized rate hike to fight sky-high inflation, Governor Tiff Macklem said on Tuesday. The BoC surprised the market with a smaller-than-expected 50 bps hike last week.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange recovered 2.91 points Tuesday to 598.24.
ON WALLSTREET
Dow futures ticked lower Wednesday as investors await the Federal Reserve’s latest policy decision at the conclusion of its meeting.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials weakened 21 points, or 0.1%, to 32,602
Futures for the S&P 500 eked up 2.25 points, or 0.1%, to 3,868.25.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite added 24 points, or 0.2%, to 11,356.
Shares of Twilio, the maker of programmable tools allowing businesses to send and receive calls and texts, dropped nearly 4% in pre-market trading.
The dip followed a double-downgrade from Bank of America and price target cut for the stock. While the bank still expects share value to go up 13% in the next year, that’s down from the previously expected 133%.
The Fed is widely expected to announce a 0.75-percentage-point rate increase, its fourth hike in a row of that size as it battles high inflation. Investors are also looking for a signal that the central bank is prepared to slow the pace of its rate-hiking plan come December.
Comments from the Federal Reserve and Fed Chair Jerome Powell will play a key role in deciphering where stocks go in the months ahead and whether markets kick off a fresh bull run.
The central bank’s decision will come after the release of mixed economic data on Tuesday.
The ISM manufacturing index showed the share of companies reporting expansion in October come in slightly ahead of expectation, while
the JOLTS report conveyed a strong labor market despite the Fed’s aggressive tightening clip.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 fell 0.1% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index raced ahead 2.4%.
Oil prices gained eight cents to $88.45 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices hiked $8.90 to $1,658.60 U.S. an ounce.
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