The Bank of Canada is set to announce its interest rate policy decision at 9:45 am ET Wednesday with BOC Governor Tiff Macklem to hold a press conference afterwards at 10:30 am ET. The Econoday consensus and market expectations call for no rate change at this announcement. Up until Friday of last week, when Canadian GDP figures were released showing stronger than expected growth, expectations were torn between a 25 basis point rate cut and no action. The upbeat GDP numbers apparently sealed expectations for the BOC to keep rates on hold. and the economy has stabilized with support from past rate cuts intended to cushion the shock from US trade policy. Investors will be watching on Wednesday for guidance from Macklem about the outlook for rates and the economy. Markets generally expect two more rate cuts during 2025.

And at 10 am ET, an early reading on current business in the US service sector is due from the Institute for Supply Management survey of the nation's purchasing managers. As services accounts for roughly 70 percent of the economy, the May ISM report is a huge deal. It comes at a fraught moment as the economy copes with fallout from President Trump's shifting tariff policies and a range of other uncertainties affecting the outlook. The Econoday consensus looks for the ISM services index at 52.0 in May, pretty flat from 51.6 in April. As these are diffusion indexes, an index just above 50 would indicate slow expansion in business continued in May. A number below 50 would show contraction. ISM has already reported a slow deterioration in manufacturing business under way with the ISM manufacturing index down to 48.5 in May from 48.7 in April.

Separately, note that US import duties on aluminum and steel rose to 50 percent last night from 25 percent, a special blow to Canada, Mexico, Brazil, South Korea, Germany and other big exporters to the US. It's also a blow to US automakers and other US firms that will see input costs rise. Ongoing US trade talks with the European Union are reportedly"constructive" but the latest ratcheting up in metals tariffs are unhelpful, the EU envoy says.

Market Focus details key factors in the coming day that will impact the economic outlook and the financial markets. These include central bank events, economic indicators, policymaker speeches as well as expected political and corporate developments.

Keeping up-to-date with event schedules and the economic calendar is key to understanding the global financial system. Econoday's Market Focus allows investors and policymakers to carefully track what will be making news and moving the financial markets in the coming day.