The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that Canada's main stock index inched lower on Tuesday, weighed by declines for the financial and utilities sectors, but the move was modest as commodity prices rose and ahead of an expected outsized interest-rate cut by the Bank of Canada. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe says the S&P/TSX Composite Index ended down 6.63 points at 24,716.70, its second straight lower closing level after notching a record high on Friday. "The big news in Canada this week is [Wednesday] with the Bank of Canada. So today, we're most likely following the U.S. markets," said Colin Cieszynski at SIA Wealth Management. The BoC is expected to slash its benchmark rate by 50 basis points, its first such reduction in 15 years outside the pandemic era. The heavily weighted financials sector slipped 0.2 per cent, pressured by a decline of 9.4 per cent for the shares of Goeasy after BMO downgraded the consumer lender to "market perform" from "outperform." The materials sector, which includes metal miners, was among the sectors that gained ground. It added 1.6 per cent as gold climbed to an all-time high. The price of oil also rose, settling 2.2 per cent higher at $72.09 (U.S.) a barrel.