Baystreet.ca - Futures for Canada's main stock index inched higher on Wednesday ahead of this morning’s rate announcement by the Bank of Canada, while oil continued its slide on an expected supply boost later in the year.
The S&P/TSX Composite Index fell 138.51 points to conclude Tuesday at 21,978.18. The Canadian dollar fell 0.08 cents to 73.11 cents U.S. June futures were up 0.1% Wednesday. In company news, waste management giant GFL Environmental is reported to have hired a financial adviser to review two buyout offers.
The Bank of Canada is set to announce what changes (if any) to its trendsetting rate this morning (about 10 a.m. EDT).
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange swooned 10.49 points, or 1.7%, Wednesday to 595.43.
ON WALLSTREET
Stock futures are slightly higher Wednesday as investors geared up for private payroll data while analyzing the latest corporate earnings.
Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials hiked 83 points, or 0.2%, to 38,871. Futures for the S&P 500 took on 16.75 points, or 0.3%, at 5,320.75.
Futures for the NASDAQ Composite recovered 111.25 points, or 0.6%, to 18,812.25. Hewlett Packard Enterprise climbed more than 14% after surpassing Wall Street expectations on both lines in its fiscal second quarter. CrowdStrike (NASDAQ:CRWD) jumped almost 7% on stronger-than-expected earnings and guidance.
On the earnings front, discount retailer Dollar Tree (NASDAQ:DLTR) is expected to share results before the bell. Athleisure maker Lululemon is slated to post earnings after the market closes.
Those moves follow a muted but winning day on Wall Street. The Dow climbed about 140 points, while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite each added close to 0.2%.
Tuesday brought the first of several data points offering insight to the state of the labor market, an important topic for traders looking for signs that the Federal Reserve has seen enough economic tightening to begin cutting interest rates. Job opening and labor turnover data came out Tuesday morning — known as JOLTS — and showed 8.059 million vacancies in April, the lowest level in more than three years. It also came in well below the 8.4 million consensus forecast from economists surveyed by Dow Jones.
The next notable set of employment stats come Wednesday morning with a release from ADP (NASDAQ:ADP). Economists polled by Dow Jones are anticipating the data will show private employers added 175,000 jobs in May.
Traders will also monitor data on services and nonmanufacturing purchasing due Wednesday. After that, attention will turn to weekly jobless claims numbers on Thursday and Friday’s all-important May jobs report.
In Japan, the Nikkei 225 faded 0.9% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng index dipped 0.1%. Oil prices gained 26 cents to $73.51 U.S. a barrel. Gold prices hiked $5.30 to $2,352.70 U.S. an ounce.