Canadian Market May Open Slightly Lower; BoC Rate Decision In Focus

(RTTNews) - Canadian shares may open lower on Wednesday, tracking weak global cues. The mood is likely to remain cautious ahead of the Canadian central bank's monetary policy announcement. Shares from resources sectors may find some support on higher commodity prices.

The central bank's policy announcement and post meet press conference are likely to significantly impact price movements today.

The Bank of Canada will announce its interest rate decision at 9:45 AM ET. The central bank is widely expected to cut interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.5% tomorrow.

The Canadian central bank cut its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 4.75% in its June 2024 meeting, and signaled more rate cuts will be delivered should inflation continue to slow as expected.

Data on new housing prices, and manufacturing sales for the month of June are due at 8:30 AM ET.

Rogers Communications Inc, (RCI.B.TO) reported adjusted net income of $623 million for the quarter ended June 30, 2024, compared to $544 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Suncor Energy Inc. (SU.TO), Celestica Inc. (CLS.TO) and Waste Connections Inc (WCN.TO) are scheduled to announce their quarterly earnings after trading hours today.

The Canadian market ended weak on Tuesday, weighed down by losses in energy and industrials sectors.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index ended with a loss of 58.90 points or 0.26% at 22,813.75, after scaling a low of 22,771.14 and a high of 22,871.13 intraday.

Asian stocks struggled for direction before closing mostly lower on Wednesday after the release of disappointing earnings from Tesla and Alphabet. Lingering concerns over slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy also kept investors nervous.

European stocks are down in negative territory with investors reacting to earnings updates from major U.S. technology firms, and global financial institutions.

In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.98 or 1.27% at $77.94 a barrel.

Gold futures are gaining $10.30 or 0.43% at $2,417.60 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.219 or 0.75% at $29.550 an ounce.