04:34 PM EDT, 09/18/2024 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange closed lower for a second-straight day on Wednesday, as investor enthusiasm following the U.S. Federal Reserve's first rated cut in four years quickly faded.

After briefly touching a session high of 23,780.22 following the rate decision, the S&P/TSX Composite Index closed down 85.13 points to eventually land at 23,592.57, joining U.S. exchanges, which all ended lower. Utilities were the biggest loser, down 0.8%, followed by Industrials, down 0.7%. Healthcare and Battery Metals were the biggest gainers, up 2.3% and 1.6%, respectively.

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil closed lower on on Wednesday even after a report showed a larger than expected drop in U.S. oil inventories while the Federal Reserve, as expected, cut interest rates by 50 basis points, the first cut to rates in four year. WTI crude for October delivery closed down US$0.28 to settle at US$70.91 per barrel, while November Brent crude, the global benchmark, was last seen up US$0.08 to US$73.78.

Gold traded lower late afternoon on Wednesday as the dollar moved higher following the Fed's rate-cut decision.

Gold for December delivery was last seen down US$18.20 to US$2,574.20 per ounce.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), which sets Federal Reserve policy, ended its two-day meeting on Wednesday afternoon with a 50 basis point cut to interest rates, the first cut to rates since 2020. The cut, which met market expectations though a 25 point cut was also in play, came as U.S. inflation slows while the labor market weakens.

"The Committee has gained greater confidence that inflation is moving sustainably toward 2 percent, and judges that the risks to achieving its employment and inflation goals are roughly in balance. The economic outlook is uncertain, and the Committee is attentive to the risks to both sides of its dual mandate," the FOMC's said in its statement.

The drop in rates is expected to begin a cycle of cuts, though the FOMC's outlook for rates, its "dot plot", showed the committee may less dovish than some hoped, predicting only 50 basis points of additional cuts this year.

"Looking at the updated Fed member forecast, the "dots", the median expectation is for only 50 bps in further cuts expected this year. This could be another 50 in November, or it could imply that the Fed will move to a slower path now that it has come out of the gates quickly, with a quarter point cut at each of the remaining meetings this year. From our point of view, the Fed's current policy stance is still roughly 200 bps above where it needs to be given the state of the economy. This implies that, no matter the specific pace, investors should expect the Fed to keep cutting through the rest of this year and next," James Orlando, senior economist at TD Economics, noted.

Also on Wednesday the Bank of Canada released its Summary of Governing Council deliberations from its last meeting on Sept.4, which ended with its third-straight cut to interest rates as the council decided inflationary pressures are easing.

"Members agreed that with broad inflationary pressures continuing to ease, it was appropriate to reduce the policy rate further. They decided to cut the policy rate by another 25 basis points to 4 1/4%. Governing Council members also discussed the future path for the policy rate. They agreed that if inflation continued to ease as expected, that it was reasonable to expect that the policy rate would decline further. Given the countervailing forces working on inflation, members agreed that there was no pre-determined path for interest rates. They would proceed with decisions one meeting at a time, guided by incoming data," the summary noted.

Of interest to investors and Toronto sports fans, Rogers Communications (RCI-B.TO) on Wednesday signed an agreement to buy BCE's (BCE.TO) 37.5% ownership stake in Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment (MLSE) for $4.7 billion. According to a statement, the BCE-owned Sportsnet network will continue to broadcast 50% of Toronto Maple Leafs regional games in ice hockey and 50% of Toronto Raptors games in basketball controlled by MLSE.

BCE ended the day up 3.3% to $48.52, and was the second-most actively traded stock on the TSX.