Bay Street Seen Opening With Negative Bias; BoC Rate Decision In Focus

Canadian shares are likely to open with a negative bias on Wednesday, reacting to disappointing earnings updates from some top U.S. companies, and on concerns about a global economic recession.

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 raise interest rates by 25 basis points to 4.5%, a 15-year high.

Data on manufacturing sales for the month of December is due at 8:30 AM ET.

After a weak start and a subsequent fall to lower levels, the Canadian market gradually pared its losses as the session progressed on Tuesday and briefly emerged into positive territory around late afternoon before finally settling flat.