Bay Street Seen Opening Lower
(RTTNews) - Canadian shares are likely to open on a negative note on Wednesday, tracking weak European stocks and lower commodity prices. The focus will be on the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision, due at 10 AM ET.
The central bank is widely expected to hold its policy rate unchanged at 5%, and keep the rate steady until the end of the year. A section of economists expect the bank to reduce key interest rate to 3.5% in the fourth quarter of the next financial year.
Canada's trade data for the month of July is due at 8:30 AM ET. A report on Canadian second-quarter labor productivity is also due at 8:30 AM ET.
In company news, Enbridge Inc (ENB.TO) has struck a deal with Dominion Energy to buy three natural gas utilities from it for a total consideration of $14 billion. The net value of the deal is $9.4 billion but will also involve the assumption of the utilities' debt.