Bay Street Likely To Open On Subdued Note

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open on a subdued note on Wednesday, tracking mixed global cues, and sluggish commodity prices. The focus will be on the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision due a little after the commencement of the session.

The central bank, which will announce its rate decision at 10 AM ET, is widely expected to hold its policy rate unchanged at 5%.

The central bank press conference is scheduled to take place at 11 AM ET. The bank is likely to sound hawkish with regard to its policy outlook.

On Tuesday, the Canadian market retreated after opening higher and ended the day's session on a weak note, losing for the fifth consecutive session.

The European Central Bank's monetary policy announcement, data on US GDP, personal consumption expenditure, jobless claims, and personal income & expenditure are among the major economic reports due this week.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 60.25 points or 0.32% at 18,986.49.

Asian stocks ended mostly higher on Wednesday, with benchmark indexes in China, Hong Kong and Japan leading regional gains after China rolled out fresh stimulus to shore up its economic recovery.

A stable dollar, falling Treasury yields and positive earnings from Microsoft Corp also helped underpin investor sentiment before next week's Federal Reserve meeting.

European stocks are turning in a mixed performance with investors reacting to a slew of earnings updates, and continuing to monitor the developments on the geopolitical front.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are down marginally at $83.70 a barrel.

Gold futures are down $1.40 or 0.06% at $1,984.70 an ounce, while Silver futures are down $0.151 or 0.65% at $22.965 an ounce.