Canada's Stock Market Slides Amid Cautious Awaiting of Fed Rate Decision

Canada's main stock index fell for the fifth consecutive session on Wednesday, hurt by commodity-linked stocks, as investors adopted a cautious stance ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's monetary policy decision. The Toronto Stock Exchange's S&P/TSX composite index (.GSPTSE) dropped 0.2% to 25,070.07, trading near a four-week low. The U.S. central bank is widely expected to reduce rates by 25 basis points at 2 p.m.

ET on Wednesday, with market participants keeping a watch on the Fed's summary of economic projections (SEP) and comments from Chair Jerome Powell for clues on the pace of future rate cuts. U.S. rate cuts generally benefit commodity prices, particularly precious and base metals, which could boost Canada's resource-heavy stock market. However, with a rate cut almost fully priced in, any hawkish tilt could lift the dollar and put pressure on commodity prices. 'The markets are mostly trading cautiously ahead of the interest rate decision,' said Douglas Porter, chief economist at BMO Capital Markets. 'Markets have been under downward pressure (in the recent weeks) for a variety of reasons like the worry about the potential U.S. tariffs, fairly weak economy and now some political uncertainty as well.' Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government was thrown into chaos on Monday when his finance minister and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland quit abruptly. Trudeau, trailing in the polls, faces calls from within his own caucus to resign. Among sectors, materials index (.GSPTTMT), and gold miners (.SPTTGD), dropped about 0.7% each, as precious metal prices retreated ahead of the Fed's policy announcement. In single stocks, Nuvista Energy (NVA.TO), fell 2.7%, after the oil and natural gas firm said that it temporarily curtailed production in the greater Wapiti area due to unscheduled maintenance at a third-party gas plant

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