(RTTNews) - Canadian shares likely to open higher Wednesday morning, tracking positive European stocks and higher commodity prices. The Bank of India's interest rate decision, the U.S. consumer price inflation data and the Fed minutes are in focus.
The Bank of Canada's rate decision is due at 9:45 AM ET. The central bank is widely expected to hold rates unchanged at 5% for the sixth consecutive time. The accompanying statement from the bank is eyed for clues about future interest rate moves by the central bank.
At 8:30 AM ET, data on Canadian building permits for the month of February is due at 8:30 AM ET.
BlackBerry QNX, a business unit of BlackBerry Limited (BB.TO) said on Wednesday that it has signed a contract with ETAS GmbH, a German software firm, to jointly sell software solutions to boost the development of safety-critical functions for next generation software-defined vehicles or SDVs.
The Canadian market climbed to a record high on Tuesday as firm gold prices triggered hectic buying in the materials sector, even as investors awaited the Bank of Canada's monetary policy announcement.
The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which climbed to 22,380.16 in early trades, dropped to 22,168.64 around mid morning but recovered gradually to eventually to end the day's session at 22,361.78 with a gain of 101.48 points or 0.46%.
Asian stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as investors awaited U.S. consumer price inflation data and the minutes of the Federal Reserve's March meeting to assess the speed and timing of interest rate cuts.
European stocks are up in positive territory as investors await the release of U.S. consumer price inflation data, and the Fed's March meeting minutes.
In commodities, West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures are up $0.57 or 0.67% at $85.80 a barrel.
Gold futures are up $5.20 or 0.23% at $2,367.60 an ounce, while Silver futures are up $0.241 or 0.85% at $28.225 an ounce.
