Canada’s main stock index opened marginally lower on Wednesday, following a monetary policy decision from the Bank of Canada, and ahead of another this afternoon from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The TSX Composite Index dipped 37.14 points to open Wednesday’s trading at 16,381
The Canadian dollar nicked higher 0.02 cents to 76.40 cents U.S.
South Korea's LS Nikko Copper signed a contract with First Quantum Minerals to buy 120,000 tonnes per year of copper concentrate for 15 years starting in 2020.
First Quantum shares retreated 34 cents, or 2.9%, to $11.30.
Among consumer discretionary stocks, Linamar took the worst beating in the first hour, dropping 79 cents, or 1.8%, to $42.79.
Health-care stocks were among the few groups showing encouraging results, with Aphria sprinting nine cents, or 1.4%, to $6.68.
The Bank of Canada today maintained its target for the overnight rate at 1.75% The Bank Rate is correspondingly 2% and the deposit rate is 1.5%
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange regained 1.12 points to begin Wednesday at 538.25
Seven of the 12 Toronto subgroups were lower in the first hour, with consumer discretionary stocks ducking back 0.5%, while materials and consumer staples each down 0.3%.
The five gainers were headed by health-care, up 0.4%, while information technology and communications each up 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks slipped on Wednesday as market participants waited for the Federal Reserve’s decision on interest rates following the release of key economic data.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 16.15 points at the start of Wednesday to 27,055.27
The broader S&P 500 slipped 4.56 points to open for business at 3,032.33
The NASDAQ Composite Index stumbled 16.79 points to 8,260.06
The corporate earnings season also continued Wednesday with General Electric posting results that topped analyst expectations. GE also raised its forecast for 2019 cash flow, sending its stock up 10.5%.
CME Group and ADP also reported better-than-expected earnings. Apple, Facebook, Starbucks and Lyft are among the companies set to release their results after the bell.
The Fed is largely expected to cut announce a 25 basis-point rate cut at 2 p.m. ET. That would be the central bank’s third rate cut of 2019.
But investors will look for clues about the Fed’s moves after this meeting. Market expectations for another interest rate cut in December are at 23%, compared with almost 70% earlier this month.
The Commerce Department said U.S. Gross Domestic Product grew by 1.9% in the third quarter, topping expected growth of 1.6%. The better-than-expected print was driven by continued consumer spending along with government expenditures.
U.S. private payrolls increased by 125,000 in October, according to ADP and Moody’s Analytics. That topped a Dow Jones estimate of 100,000. However, September payrolls were trimmed down by 42,000 to 93,000.
Prices for the benchmark 10-year U.S. Treasury were up slightly, lowering yields to 1.82% from Tuesday’s 1.83%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices slipped 29 cents to $55.25 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices gained $4.40 to $1,495.10 U.S. an ounce.
