Bank of Canada's Rate Hike Rattles U.S. Stock-Market Investors.

The Bank of Canada surprised traders by delivering a quarter percentage point hike in interest rates, ending a four-month pause, which complicates the picture for US investors who are motivated to get bullish ahead of a Fed pause. The Reserve Bank of Australia on Tuesday delivered a second straight rate hike after having ended a short pause of its own. Investors look for the Federal Reserve to deliver a pause of its own next week, with policy makers expected to leave the fed-funds rate unchanged after hiking it from near zero to 5% to 5.25% in a breakneck series of rate hikes that began in March 2022.