(Reuters) – Futures for Canada’s main stock index rose on Wednesday as investors awaited interest rate verdicts and comments from the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of Canada later in the day.
March futures on the S&P/TSX index were up 0.27% at 6.30 a.m. ET (1130 GMT).
Domestic investors are focused on the Bank of Canada’s first monetary policy decision of the year, scheduled for 9:45 a.m. ET.
Analysts widely expect a 25 basis-point interest rate cut, aimed at mitigating potential economic downturns from proposed U.S. tariffs.
On Tuesday, the White House said U.S. President Donald Trump still plans to hit Mexico and Canada with tariffs on Saturday.
The Canadian central bank has reduced rates by a cumulative 1.75 percentage points since June 2024.
Stateside, the Fed is expected to end a three-meeting run of rate cuts and stay on hold, but investors will be eager to get a sense of what it makes of Trump’s eventful first nine days back in charge.
In commodities, oil prices, fell following a rise in U.S. crude stockpiles and easing worries over Libyan supply. [O/R]
Gold prices were steady as market participants awaited the Fed’s decision and considered the impact of Trump’s trade policies. [GOL/]
The Toronto Stock Exchange’s S&P/TSX composite index closed higher on Tuesday. A rally in technology shares helped recover from the previous day’s sharp declines, triggered by the emergence of the lower-cost Chinese AI model, DeepSeek, which caused a global equity market rout.
In corporate news, consulting services firm CGI reported first-quarter revenue below estimates.
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(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
