TSX futures tepid with focus on key cenbank decisions

(Reuters) – Futures for Canada’s main stock index were flat on Monday, with investors on the sidelines as they brace for a week of key interest rate decisions from major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Futures on the S&P/TSX index were steady at 0650 a.m. ET (1150 am GMT), while their U.S. counterparts were trading higher as investors await a report on consumer prices due on Tuesday. [.N]

The latest U.S. inflation reading will be the final pit-stop before the Fed’s interest rate decision on Wednesday, where the central bank is expected to deliver a half-percentage-point rate hike.

The European Central Bank and the Bank of England are also expected to raise rates by 50 basis points this week.

The benchmark Canadian index closed lower for the sixth straight session on Friday, as a recent rally driven by hopes of a less-aggressive monetary policy stance by central banks lost steam. Markets are now gripped with concerns that interest rates would stay higher for longer, possibly tipping the economy into a recession.

Prices of precious metals trickled lower against a stronger dollar, while crude oil dipped as a weakening global economy offset supply woes stemming from the closure of a key pipeline supplying the United States and Russian threats of a production cut. [O/R] [GOL/]

TC Energy said on Sunday it has not yet determined the cause of the Keystone oil pipeline leak last week in the United States, while also not giving a timeline as to when the pipeline will resume operation.

On the research front, TD Securities cut rating for clothing company Roots Corporation to “hold” from “buy”.

($1 = 1.3660 Canadian dollars)

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)