Canadian dollar, North American stock markets steady ahead of Fed announcement

(Photo from Flickr/KMR Photography)

TORONTO – North American stock markets and the Canadian dollar showed little movement Thursday ahead of the Federal Reserve’s afternoon announcement on its key interest rates.

The loonie was down marginally, falling 0.05 to 75.87 cents US.

The S&P/TSX index in Toronto was up 19.65 points at 13,783.43, adding slightly to a 301-point gain on Wednesday.

The Dow Jones average of 30 stocks was up 4.28 points at 16,744.23, the broader S&P 500 index advanced 0.75 point to 1,996.06 and the Nasdaq index gained 9.61 points to 4,898.85.

On the commodity markets, the December gold contract fell $1.50 to US$1,117.50 an ounce, the October crude contract was down 54 cents at US$46.61 a barrel and the October contract for natural gas was unchanged at US$2.68.

The Federal Reserve announces its decision at 2 p.m. ET on Thursday, followed by a news conference by Fed chair Janet Yellen. Economists appeared almost evenly split on the likelihood of a rate hike.