Wall Street stock futures were flat Wednesday as investors awaited an afternoon statement on interest rates from the U.S. Federal Reserve.

While the Fed is not expected to change interest rates, the policy statement will attract attention.

Here at home, Statistics Canada said Canada’s trade deficit narrowed to $55 million in June from $1.1 billion in May.

Exports increased 2.3% to just under $29.3 billion in June, halting three consecutive monthly declines, while imports fell 1.3% to just over $29.3 billion.

Separately, StatsCan said Contractors selling prices for new homes decreased 0.2% in June compared with a 0.1% decline in May.

The Canadian dollar continued to lose ground, moving down 0.17 of a cent to US90.62¢, after losing just over a cent on Tuesday.

South of the border, the U.S. Commerce Department reported that the U.S. deficit in international trade of goods and services increased 4% to US$27.01 billion from a slightly revised US$25.97 billion in May.

Crude-oil prices were slightly higher though still under US$70 a barrel ahead of a weekly report on U.S. inventories at 10:30 ET. The September crude contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange dipped 2¢ to US$69.43 a barrel

The December bullion contract dropped US$2 to US$945.60 an ounce.

Overseas, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock average fell 1.4% while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index fell 3%.

In Europe, the UK’s FTSE 100 index was flat, the Frankfurt DAX added 0.2% and the Paris CAC 40 moved up 0.59%.

On Tuesday, Toronto stocks closed lower Tuesday as mixed economic data and a gloomy outlook for U.S. banks spooked investors.

The S&P/TSX composite index fell 164.20 points, or 1.52%, to close at 10,629.47. Eight of the 10 main groups TSX posted losses.

The financial group was down 2.6%, following U.S. banks lower after an analyst report painted a gloomy outlook for the U.S. banking industry.

The junior S&P/TSX Venture composite index shed 8.37 points, or 0.71%. to end at 1,176.84.

U.S. stocks fell on Tuesday after an unexpectedly large drop in wholesale inventories raised worries about an economic recovery.

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 96.28 points, or 1.03%, to 9,241.67. The S&P 500 fell 12.77 points, or 1.27%, to 994.33. The tech-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 22.51 points, or 1.13%, to 1,969.73.

IE