Baystreet.ca - Equities in Canada's largest centre stumbled in the first hour, amid uncertainty over what the U.S. Federal Reserve will do with interest rate Wednesday afternoon, whether it will cut, and how much.
The TSX Composite Index ditched 39.69 points to open Wednesday at 23,638.01.
The Canadian dollar recovered 0.08 cents to 73.65 cents U.S.
In corporate news, Barrick Gold (NYSE:GOLD) suspended operations at its Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea until Thursday after tribal violence in the region killed at least 20.
In the economic docket, Statistics Canada reported foreign investors increased their exposure to Canadian securities by $11.0 billion in July. Meanwhile, Canadian acquisitions of foreign securities slowed to $4.5 billion, down from a $16.4 billion investment in June.
ON BAYSTREET
The TSX Venture Exchange slipped 1.99 points to 580.36.
Seven of the 12 TSX subgroups went south, with gold and materials losing 0.6% each, and real-estate tailing off 0.5%.
The five gainers were led by health-care, up 1.1%, communications, ahead 0.3%, and consumer discretionary stocks better by 0.2%.
ON WALLSTREET
Stocks were little changed Wednesday as Wall Street anticipated the first Federal Reserve interest rate cut in four years. Gains were muted as uncertainty lingered over how big the easing will be from the central bank.
The Dow Jones Industrials index dropped 91.99 points to 41,514.19.
The much broader index reversed 1.2 points to 5,633.38.
The NASDAQ captured 12 points to 17,640.08.
The Fed is expected to deliver its latest policy decision at 2 p.m. ET. The central bank is expected to lower rates by at least a quarter percentage point, but traders are divided over how big the reduction will be. Experts speculate traders pricing in a 61% chance of a half-point cut and 35% odds of a quarter-point move.
Prices for the 10-year Treasury sagged, lifting yields to 3.68% from Tuesday’s 3.65%. Treasury prices and yields move in opposite directions.
Oil prices faded 24 cents to $70.95 U.S. a barrel.
Gold prices recovered $5.50 to $2,597.90.