Futures Poke Up Wednesday

Futures for Canada's main stock index edged up on Wednesday tracking gains in bullion prices, as investors awaited the U.S. Federal Reserve's verdict on further monetary tightening.

The TSX leaped 135.49 points, to adjourn Tuesday’s session at 19,654.92.

March futures on the S&P/TSX index gained 0.2% Wednesday morning.

The Canadian dollar inched up 0.03 cents to 72.98 cents U.S.

Among company news, brokerage Scotiabank upgraded Africa Oil Corp to "sector outperform" from "sector perform".

In matters economic, Statistics Canada’s new housing price index declined 0.2% month over month in February, following a similar decrease in January. The index has been down in five of the last six months. In February, prices were down or unchanged in 25 of the 27 census metropolitan areas surveyed and up in 2.

ON BAYSTREET

The TSX Venture Exchange finished ahead 1.55 points Tuesday to 608.83.

ON WALLSTREET

Stock futures were flat Wednesday as investors braced for the Federal Reserve’s next move in its inflation-fighting rate hiking plan.

Futures for the Dow Jones Industrials gained 46 points, or 0.1%, early Wednesday to 32,820.

Futures for the S&P 500 eked up 3.5 points, or 0.1%, to 4,039.25.

Futures for the NASDAQ Composite faded 3.5 points, or 0.1%, to 12,863.75.

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The moves came as fears over the ongoing banking crisis showed signs of easing, with investors “heartened by the increasing likelihood that the end of Fed policy tightening is near,” said Brian Levitt, global market strategist for Invesco.

Investors are looking forward to the latest update from the Fed, at the conclusion of its two-day policy meeting on Wednesday. Most investors expect the central bank to stay committed to its tightening and raise rates by 25 basis points.

As of Wednesday morning, there is about an 85% chance of a quarter-point increase by the Fed, according to CME Group’s FedWatch tool. Meanwhile, there’s a roughly 15% probability of there being no hike.

GameStop shares soared 43% after the video game retailer posted its fourth-quarter numbers.

The company earned an adjusted 16 cents per share after losing 47 cents per share in the year-earlier period. Revenue of $2.23 billion beat a StreetAccount estimate of $2.18 billion. GameStop’s gross margins also grew to 22.4% during the quarter from 16.8% a year prior.

Nike shares dipped slightly in the premarket after the company reported a quarterly decline in gross margin, overshadowing better-than-expected earnings and revenue.

Earnings per share came in at 79 cents. That’s well above a Refinitiv consensus forecast of 55 cents. Revenue, meanwhile, came in at $12.39 billion, while analysts expected $11.47 billion.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 sprang up 1.9% Wednesday, while in Hong Kong, the Hang Seng hiked 1.7%.

Oil prices lost 21 cents to $69.46 U.S. a barrel.

Gold prices acquired $4.30 to $1,945.40 U.S. an ounce.