Equities in Canada’s largest centre fell Wednesday, as investors digested decisions from the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the day.
The TSX stepped back 22.35 points to open Wednesday at 31,222.02.
The Canadian dollar acquired nine cents at 72.23 cents U.S.
In corporate updates, Air Transat and its pilot union announced they had reached a tentative deal that promised higher pay and better working conditions, averting a potential strike and allowing operations to return to normal. Air Transat shares took off 18 cents, or 7.1%, to $2.70.
The Bank of Canada held its key interest rate at 2.25%. a move widely expected by economists. The market had 93.5% odds that the BoC would hold rates.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchanged lost 6.43 points to 933.85.
The 12 TSX subgroups were evenly split, as gold gave back 0.8%, while telecoms and energy each retreated 0.6%.
The half-dozen gainers were led by financials, poking up 0.3%, while consumer staples and industrials each eked up 0.1%.
ON WALLSTREET
The S&P 500 was relatively unchanged on Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
The Dow Jones Industrials recovered 110.85 points to begin the mid-week session at 47,844.10.
The much-broader index gained back 3.59 points to 6,840.52.
The S&P 500 sits just around 1% below its last record close posted on Oct. 28, which was the day before the last Fed decision.
The NASDAQ was thumped 43.61 points to 23,532.88.
AeroVironment slid $30.66, or 10.9%, to $250.76. on the back of a fiscal second-quarter earnings miss. AeroVironment earned 44 cents per share, well below an LSEG estimate of 78 cents per share.
GameStop fell $1.21, or 5.2%, to $21.90, after the company posted its third-quarter results. GameStop earned an adjusted 24 cents per share on revenue of $821 million. Revenue was lighter than one analyst’s estimate expecting north of $900 million.
Stocks have been teetering between slight gains and losses in recent sessions as investors await this week’s key Fed meeting, which is the final one of the year.
The Fed is widely expected to deliver its third straight interest rate cut of a quarter percentage point, with fed funds futures suggesting a roughly 90% chance of a decrease.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury were up slightly, lowering yields to 4.17% from Tuesday’s 4.18%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slumped 37 cents to $57.88.
Gold prices stumbled $13.00 to $4,223.60.
