TSX Up Marginally After BoC's Policy Announcement; Fed Move Eyed

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks recovered after a weak start on Wednesday, with investors digesting the Canadian central bank's monetary policy announcement, and looking ahead to the Federal Reserve's rate decision.

The BoC held rates as expected. The Fed is widely expected to lower interest rate by 25 basis points. The Fed's accompanying statement and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's comments are eyed for clues about future interest rate moves.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index was up 40.23 points or 0.13% at 31,284.60 a few minutes past noon. Earlier, after edging down to 31,198.72, the index had advanced to 31,334.80.

The Canaian central bank today decided to leave rates unchanged after having cut interest rates in the previous two meetings. The overnight rate now stands at 2.25%, with the bank rate at 2.5% and the deposit rate at 2.2%.

The decision to leave rates unchanged came as the BoC's Governing Council believes the current policy rate is at about the right level to keep inflation close to 2% while helping the economy through a period of structural adjustment.

The BoC noted that "uncertainty remains elevated" and stressed that it is prepared to respond if the economic outlook changes. "The Bank is focused on ensuring that Canadians continue to have confidence in price stability through this period of global upheaval," the BoC said.

The BoC's statement noted that Canadian economy grew by a "surprisingly strong" 2.6% in the third quarter, with the jump in GDP largely reflecting volatility in trade.

"Growth is forecast to pick up in 2026, although uncertainty remains high and large swings in trade may continue to cause quarterly volatility," the BoC said.

Linamar Corp gained about 4.5%. Ivanhoe Mines, Cronos Group, Transcontinental, Lundin Mining, Martinrea International, Lightspeed Commerce climbed 3 to 4%.

Eldorado Gold, Wheaton Precious Metals, Magna International, Fairfax Financial Holdings, Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers and Bausch Health Companies also moved up sharply.

NorthWest Company drifted down 4.8%. Bombardier, Cameco, Capital Power Corporation, NexGen Energy, Cineplex, Wesdome Gold Mines, Agnico Eagle Mines, Aecon and Teck Resources lost 2 to 3.4%.