Futures for Canada's main stock index were muted on Wednesday ahead of interest rate decisions from the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve, with markets focused on policymakers' outlook amid the ongoing war in the Middle East.
The TSX Composite Index lost 233.85 points to close Tuesday at 33,584.34.
June futures nosed up 0.1% Wednesday.
As of Tuesday's close, the Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index had fallen 2.8% from its March 2 peak and logged a fourth straight session of declines, its longest such streak since December, underscoring the impact of escalating geopolitical tensions on risk appetite.
U.S. President Donald Trump said he was unhappy with Tehran's latest proposal to end the war, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that he had instructed aides to prepare for an extended blockade of Iran's ports.
CGI's second-quarter profit met analysts' expectations.
The Bank of Canada is out with its rate decision (about 9:45 a.m. EDT), and the smart money has the central bank staying put.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid 24.53 points, or 2.4%, Tuesday to 995.76.
ON WALLSTREET
Futures linked to the S&P 500 edged higher Wednesday as traders awaited quarterly earnings from four of the “Magnificent Seven”, as well as the conclusion of what could be Jerome Powell’s final policy meeting as Federal Reserve chair.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials added 16 points to 49,313.
Futures for the much broader market inched up 5.5 points, or 0.1%, to 7,176.50
Futures for the NASDAQ gathered 97.75 points, or 0.4%, to 27,266.50.
The biggest after-hours movers included Starbucks, which climbed 4% after raising its full-year outlook. Shares of Robinhood fell 10% after its first-quarter results fell short of expectations.
Both Seagate Technology and NXP Semiconductors popped more than 17% after posting earnings beats and sharing positive revenue guidance.
Stocks are coming off a losing session after The Wall Street Journal reported that OpenAI recently missed its own revenue and user growth targets. The report weighed on tech, which led the broader market lower.
Four of the “Magnificent Seven” tech titans are on the docket to report their earnings after Wednesday’s closing bell: Alphabet, Amazon, Meta Platforms and Microsoft.
Investors have high expectations for these company to show the revenue that will justify the capital they have spent on artificial intelligence investments.
In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng rocketed 1.7% Wednesday, while markets in Japan were closed for holiday.
Oil prices increased $3.30 to $103.29 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices descended $30.60 to $4,577.80 U.S an ounce.
Related Stories
