Everything You Need to Know on Wednesday: BoC to Announce Interest Rate Decision Today as Many Forecasters Anticipate Rate Cut

Good morning mooers! Here are things you need to know about today's market:

● S&P/TSX 60 Index Standard Futures are trading at 1,319.50, up 0.22%

● BoC to announce interest rate decision today as many forecasters anticipate rate cut

● Greater Toronto home sales fall in May, but Bank of Canada decision could spur demand

● TC Energy shareholders approve spinoff, creation of South Bow pipelines business

Today, the Canadian dollar is trading at 73.13 cents US, a slight increase from Tuesday.

S&P/TSX 60 Index Standard Futures are trading at 1,319.50, up 0.22% from previous close.

To cut or not to cut — that is the question the Bank of Canada will answer this morning as it announces its latest interest rate decision.

Forecasters are widely expecting the central bank to lower its key interest rate by a quarter of a percentage point, which would mark the first rate cut in more than four years.

The Bank of Canada's key interest rate is currently sitting at five per cent, the highest it's been since 2001.

Economists say the noticeable slowdown in inflation as well as economic weakness justify a rate cut.

If the Bank of Canada opts to lower its policy rate, it would be moving ahead of some of its central bank peers, including the U.S. Federal Reserve.

Governor Tiff Macklem is scheduled to hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m. eastern time to speak to media about the decision.

The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board says home sales in May were down 21.7 per cent from last year, but new listings continued to rise as homeowners anticipate a bump in demand.

The board says 7,013 homes changed hands in the month compared with 8,960 in May of last year, which coincided with a brief market resurgence.

The average selling price in the Greater Toronto Area was down 2.5 per cent year-over-year to $1,165,691.

New listings jumped 21.1 per cent over the same period, with 18,612 properties put on the market last month.

TRREB president Jennifer Pearce says would-be homebuyers, including many first-timers, are waiting for "clear signs" of declining mortgage rates to get off the sidelines, which would also provide relief for the tight rental market.

The Bank of Canada is set to announce its latest interest rate decision this morning, which some economists predict could entail a rate cut.

Shareholders at the Calgary-based company's annual meeting Tuesday endorsed the company's plan, announced last July, to split into two separate publicly traded companies.

The plan will see TC Energy look more like a utility company, with a focus on natural gas infrastructure as well as nuclear, pumped hydro energy storage and new low-carbon energy opportunities.

The company's crude oil pipelines, including the critical Keystone pipeline system, will become part of a new liquids pipeline business called South Bow.

South Bow will be headquartered in Calgary with an office in Houston. It will be led by Bevin Wirzba, the current executive vice-president for TC Energy's natural gas and liquids pipelines business.

At Tuesday's annual meeting, TC Energy CEO François Poirier said separating the company's lines of business will allow for faster growth.

"As two separate entities, each company will have the ability to focus on their distinct strategies and opportunity sets, delivering essential energy that the world relies upon," Poirier said.