Global markets were muted as investors bet that the Federal Reserve would deliver a rate cut this week, but speculated that the meeting could be one of the most fractious in recent memory.

Wall Street futures were mixed after U.S. stocks closed out the trading week with slight gains on Friday.

TSX futures were flat after Canada’s main stock market closed lower Friday.

Both sides of the border are eyeing central bank moves on Wednesday. The Bank of Canada is expected to end the year back on the sidelines, likely holding interest rates steady after a string of surprisingly sturdy economic reports, economics reporter Mark Rendell writes.

“Everyone is expecting the Fed cut now … but what’s more important will be how many dissenters there will be,” said Nabil Milali, portfolio manager at Edmond de Rothschild Asset Management.

“It could be one of the first meetings in history where the decision could be split seven for a cut and five members against it, and that will be a huge signal for next year’s rate cut expectations.”

Overseas, the pan-European STOXX 600 was little changed in morning trading. Britain’s FTSE 100 declined 0.04 per cent, Germany’s DAX gained 0.18 per cent and France’s CAC 40 gave back 0.18 per cent.

In Asia, Japan’s Nikkei closed 0.18 per cent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng dropped 1.23 per cent.

Oil prices hovered at two-week highs as investors expect a likely Fed rate cut to lift economic growth and energy demand, while monitoring geopolitical risk that threatens Russian and Venezuelan supply.

Brent crude futures fell 0.4 per cent to US$63.50 a barrel, while West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude was at US$59.83, down 0.4 per cent.

“We think oversupply concerns will eventually be realized, especially as Russian oil and refined product flows eventually circumvent existing sanctions, prompting futures to gradually track towards US$60/bbl through 2026,” Commonwealth Bank of Australia analyst Vivek Dhar wrote in a note.

In other commodities, spot gold rose 0.3 per cent to US$4,209.43 an ounce. U.S. gold futures for February delivery fell 0.1 per cent to $4,238 an ounce.

The Canadian dollar weakened against its U.S. counterpart.

The day range on the loonie was 72.16 US cents to 72.40 US cents in early trading. The Canadian dollar was up about 1.43 per cent against the greenback over the past month.

The U.S. dollar index, which weighs the greenback against a group of currencies, slipped 0.01 per cent to 98.98.

The euro gained 0.06 per cent to US$1.1652. The British pound fell 0.1 per cent to US$1.3319.

In bonds, the yield on the U.S. 10-year note was last up at 4.155 per cent.

China foreign reserves, trade surplus, aggregate yuan financing new yuan loans

Japan real cash earnings, real GDP and bank lending

Germany industrial production

With Reuters and The Canadian Press