Fed In Focus, Aimia In Crosshairs -- Canadian Commentary

(RTTNews) - Canadian stocks are looking for direction Wednesday morning, with all eyes on today's U.S. interest rate announcement and sinking oil prices.

WTI light sweet crude oil was down 41 cents at $46.05 a barrel, back near its lows of the year, after the International Energy Agency said global supplies will more than match rising demand in 2018.

Markets will also be paying attention to a slew of downbeat U.S. economic data that clouds the outlook for interest rate hikes. U.S. retail sales dropped 0.3 percent in May, while consumer prices dropped 0.1 percent.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise U.S. interest rates by a quarter percent, but they may refrain from saying whether more interest rates are in store for the rest of the year.

In corporate news, Aimia Inc (AIM.TO) has suspended payment of all dividends on both its outstanding common shares, following a recent decision from Air Canada to cut ties with the loyalty points group. Three directors also resigned from Aimia this morning.

Suncor Energy (SU.TO) pushed back until July its estimates on when full shipments from its Mildred Lake oilsands operation will resume.

Marquest has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Scotia Managed Companies from Scotia Capital. This transaction is not material to Scotiabank (BNS.TO).