Dec 18, 2024 (Baystreet.ca via COMTEX) --
Futures tracking Canada's main stock index edged up on Wednesday, mirroring their Wall Street peers, ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision later in the day.
The TSX ended Tuesday day down 27.5 points at 25,119.71.
The Canadian dollar leveled off 0.06 cents to 69.82 cents U.S.
Futures were up 0.2% Wednesday.
In corporate news, lithium miner Patriot Battery Metals secured a $69-million investment from automotive giant Volkswagen for a 9.9% stake.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slid four points Tuesday to 597.25
ON WALLSTREET
U.S. stock futures were higher on Wednesday morning as traders looked ahead to the Federal Reserve's December interest rate decision.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials galloped 139 points, or 0.3%, to 44,106.
Futures for the S&P 500 jumped 19.25 points, or 0.3%, to 6,146.50
Futures for the tech-heavy NASDAQ moved forward 68.25, or 0.3%, to 22,382.75.
On Tuesday, the Dow slipped 267.58 points, or 0.61%, for a nine-day losing streak, its longest since 1978. S&P 500 futures added 0.3%, while NASDAQ 100 futures inched up 0.2%.
The Dow's worst funk in 46 years was mostly caused by a rotation out of old economy shares and into technology stocks, a sector that the century-old measure underweights compared to broader market metrics. Despite the streak, the Dow sits less than 4% from an-all time high.
Other measures of the market are doing fine this month with the S&P 500 in the green for December and sitting about 1% from an all-time high. The NASDAQ is up 4.6% this month as investors flooded into to tech shares, while shunning the Dow.
Nvidia, which fell into correction territory earlier this week, was bouncing in premarket trading Wednesday, up nearly 3%. Nvidia entered the Dow last month. Broadcom, the chip stock seeing big inflows this month as investors dumped Nvidia, was lower in early trading Wednesday.
The Fed's policy decision is due at 2:00 p.m. ET. Fed funds futures trading currently shows a 95% chance that the central bank will cut interest rates by a quarter percentage point.
Investors will also be paying close attention to Fed policymakers' Summary of Economic Projections and Fed Chair Jerome Powell's press conference, seeking clues about what might happen in the months ahead. The central bank is widely expected to temper expectations of more rate cuts in the approaching year, particularly as inflation remains stubborn.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 backed off 0.7% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng gained 0.8%
Oil prices progressed 59 cents to $70.67 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices shone brighter 70 cents to $2,662.70 U.S. an ounce.
COMTEX_460988276/2559/2024-12-18T07:42:43
