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Bay Street Likely To Open Weak; BoC Rate Decision In Focus

(RTTNews) - Lower Canadian and U.S. futures point to a weak start for the Canadian market on Wednesday. The focus will be the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision, due at 10 AM ET.
The central bank is widely expected to hike rates by at least 25 basis points. The bank's views about outlook for future rate hikes and economic growth will be in focus.
The central bank raised the target for its overnight rate by 50 basis points to 3.75% in its October 2022 meeting, as against a widely expected 75- basis point hike. That marked the sixth consecutive rate hike by BoC.
Dollarama Inc. (DOL.TO) reported that its third quarter net earnings per common share increased by 14.8% to C$0.70 from C$0.61, prior year.
Canadian stocks ended sharply lower on Tuesday amid concerns the Fed will continue with its aggressive rate hikes after data showed stronger than expected jobs growth and an acceleration in U.S. service sector activity.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 252.09 points or 1.25% at 19,990.17.
Asian stocks ended weak on Wednesday, reacting to mixed data out of the U.S. and China, and on interest rate concerns.
European stocks are down in negative territory as recession fears and fears of aggressive rate hikes by the Federal Reserve weigh on sentiment.
In commodities trading, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for January are up slightly at $74.30 a barrel.
Gold futures are up $3.10 or 0.17% at $1,785.50 an ounce, while Silver futures are gaining $0.200 or 0.9% at $22.535 an ounce.