Futures for Canada's main stock index ticked lower on Wednesday as investors awaited highly anticipated interest rate decisions by the Bank of Canada and the U.S. Federal Reserve later in the day.
The TSX prospered 74.4 points to close Tuesday at 31,244.37.
The Canadian dollar dipped 0.09 cents to 72.22 cents U.S.
December futures were off 0.2% Wednesday.
In corporate updates, leisure carrier 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.
The Bank of Canada renders its interest rate decision this morning (about 9:45 a.m. EST). The central bank is expected to hold rates at a three-year low of 2.25% later in the day, while the Fed is expected to continue its easing cycle. Investors will closely monitor the U.S. central bank's monetary policy outlook for further signs of easing.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchanged leaped 15.27 points, or 1.7%, Tuesday to 940.28.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures are little changed Wednesday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s interest rate decision.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials sank 32 points, or 0.1%, to 47,581.
Futures for the S&P 500 gave back 2.75 points to 6,845.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ descended 30.75 points, or 0.1%, to 25,666.25.
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 87% chance of a decrease.
In the early going, AeroVironment slid more than 4% 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 6% 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.
Overseas, the Nikkei 225 in Japan docked 0.1% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index gained 0.4%.
Oil prices pulled ahead 31 cents to $58.56
Gold prices subtracted $11.00 to $4,224.90.
