June 19 (Reuters) - Stock futures for Canada's main index edged higher on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's decision on interest rates.
The Fed is expected to leave interest rates on hold but would flag whether it plans to cut rates later this year in line with the general expectation of investors.
The policy statement and new economic projections are to be released at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a press conference by Powell at 2:30 p.m. futures on the S&P/TSX index SXFc1 were up 0.14% at 7:00 a.m. ET.
Statistics Canada's data at 8:30 a.m. ET. is expected to show annual inflation rate edged up to 2.1% in May from 2% in the previous month.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX .GSPTSE rose 149.90 points, or 0.92%, to 16,503.35 on Tuesday. Jones Industrial Average e-mini futures 1YMc1 edged up 0.06% at 7:00 a.m. ET, while S&P 500 e-mini futures ESc1 were up 0.01% and Nasdaq 100 e-mini futures NQc1 gained 0.04%. .N
TOP STORIES TOP/CAN
Canada on Tuesday approved as expected a hotly contested proposal to expand the western Canadian crude oil pipeline it bought last year, providing hope for a depressed energy industry but angering environmental groups. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau will seek to further mend fences when he meets Donald Trump in Washington this week, a year after the U.S. president stormed out of a G7 meeting calling Trudeau "very dishonest and weak." Eco Atlantic EOG.V said it was not aware of any corruption probe in Guyana that would affect an offshore concession it has with partners Total TOTF.PA and Tullow Oil TLW.L . RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS RCH/CA
Altus Group Ltd AIF.TO : CIBC raises price target to C$26 from C$23
Aphria Inc APHA.TO : Canaccord Genuity cuts price target to C$16 from C$18
Cobalt 27 Capital Corp KBLT.V : RBC cuts rating to sector perform from outperform
COMMODITIES AT 7:00 a.m. ET COM/WRAP
Gold futures GCc2 : $1,343.2; -0.34% GOL/
US crude CLc1 : $53.89; -0.02% O/R
Brent crude LCOc1 : $61.7; -0.71% O/R
U.S. ECONOMIC DATA DUE ON WEDNESDAY
1400 Fed funds target rate for Jun: Expected 2.25-2.5%; Prior 2.25-2.5%
1400 Fed interest on excess reserves for Jun: Prior 2.35%
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