Canadian stocks may open higher Wednesday as traders speculate that the Federal Reserve will adopt further monetary stimulus to support economic growth in the world's largest economy. Meanwhile, global market were mostly higher and crude oil price was firm even as the U.S. dollar was steady ahead of the FOMC meeting outcome.
U.S. stock futures were pointing to a higher open.
On Tuesday, the S&P/TSX Composite Index extended gains for a third session, adding 187.23 points or 1.61 percent to 11,788.36.
The price of crude oil was little changed Wednesday morning as traders await cues from the official inventories data from the EIA. Today during trading hours, the EIA will release its U.S. crude oil inventories report for the weekended June 15. Analysts expect crude oil inventories to decline by 600,000 barrels last week. Crude for August, the most actively traded contract, edged up $0.05 to $84.08 a barrel.
The price of gold was extending losses for a third session Wednesday morning as the U.S. dollar was steady versus a basket of currencies ahead of the outcome of 2-day FOMC meeting. Gold for August shed $18.90 to $1,604.30 an ounce.
In corporate news from Canada, energy infrastructure business AltaGas Ltd. (ALA.TO) said that it has entered into an agreement with Quatro Resources Inc. to acquire Quatro's Midstream Assets for about $20 million.
Oil and gas industry drilling services provider Pason Systems Inc. (PSI.TO) said it would pay $19.4 million in total damages in US Auto-Driller Lawsuit
In economic news from the euro zone, Germany's producer price inflation slowed more than expected to 2.1 percent in May, Destatis said. Economists were expecting the rate to ease to 2.2 percent from 2.4 percent in April.
Meanwhile, policymakers of the Bank of England decided to retain the size of quantitative easing unchanged in a split vote, the minutes of the meeting showed. Four members of the Monetary Policy Committee sought more stimulus, while five members voted to maintain the QE intact at GBP 325 billion.
by RTT Staff Writer
For comments and feedback: editorial@rttnews.com
Market Analysis