July 18 (Reuters) - Futures linked to Canada's main stock index were subdued on Thursday as weak crude prices countered gains in metal prices.
The S&P/TSX 60 futures were down 0.04% as of 06:30 a.m. ET (1030 GMT).
Meanwhile, Wall Street futures rose as Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing (TSMC) posted an upbeat forecast and results, a day after a selloff in U.S. chip stocks dragged the benchmark indexes down.
Markets will focus on U.S. weekly jobless claims data, expected at 8:30 a.m. ET, and comments from Federal Reserve officials Michelle Bowman, Lorie Logan and Mary Daly later in the day.
Inflation is on a downward trend in the United States, per its central bank, and markets are speculating a cut in borrowing costs as soon as September.
Canada's material sector was set to log gains as soaring U.S. rate-cut anticipation kept gold prices near a record high scaled in the previous session.
The energy sector is expected to stay in focus, with oil prices down. Meanwhile, investors took profits from earlier gains fueled by larger-than-expected declines in U.S. crude stocks.
Soft inflation numbers, higher unemployment in June, and GDP figures for April, have helped build a stronger case for an interest-rate cut in Canada.
Market participants expect an 82% chance of the Bank of Canada trimming the rates in next week's policy meeting.
In corporate news, Canadian holding company Dundee Corporation (DCa.TO), opens new tab announced the acquisition of 9.76 million common shares of Greenheart Gold.
COMMODITIES
Gold : $2,463.89; +0.22%
US crude : $82.88; +0.0%
Brent crude : $85.01; -0.1%
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($1 = 1.3676 Canadian dollars)
Reporting by Nikhil Sharma in Bengaluru; Editing by Shreya Biswas
