Market News

The threat of an impending trade war eases, at least for 30 days. Following discussions between Trump and Trudeau yesterday, the U.S. president has agreed to delay tariffs for at least 30 days while our countries work on a finalized border security agreement. Several Canadian provinces had prepared for tariff implementation today, having removed American

This morning the Bank of Canada lowered its overnight rate for the sixth consecutive time, reducing the policy rate by 25 basis points to 3% as anticipated. Governor Macklem indicated a shift in the Bank’s approach, moving from a tightening stance to a more accommodative policy aimed at supporting stable economic growth. The Bank plans

In November, Canadian retail sales remained largely unchanged, showing minimal movement overall. However, core retail sales (excluding automobile) fell by 0.7%, with six out of nine subsectors experiencing declines. The food and beverage sector was the biggest contributor to this downturn with sales dropping 1.6%. Following this data the CAD is currently down against nearly

US stock futures surged by over 1%, and the USD dropped 0.45% against a basket of currencies following slightly weaker-than-expected inflation data. The price of goods and services rose 0.4% in December, in line with expectations. But core prices, excluding food and energy, increased by 0.2% month-over-month, below the forecasted 0.3%. Business activity in New

Strong jobs data out of the US this morning popped the USD only marginally higher against CAD as CAD remained resilient with their own solid employment report for December. Today’s Canadian data showed a far greater increase in employment than expected with 90.9K employed over the last month compared to the forecasted 24.9k and previous

The Federal Reserve announced a hawkish rate cut of 25 basis points yesterday, they also forecasted fewer cuts in 2025, down to 2 from the initial 4 expected.  This decision and guidance sent ripples through the North American Foreign Exchange (FX) market, prompting immediate reactions among major currencies and equity markets.  The Fed’s decision came

Canada’s Rate Cuts: A Gradual Path Ahead Today’s press conference from BoC Governor Macklem shed light on the central bank’s reasoning behind its second consecutive 50-point rate cut. Here are my key takeaways: No More Restrictive Policy: The BoC needed to take steam out of inflation which has been successful. With inflation now at 2%,

While Canadian employment change jumped up to 50.5k (significantly better than expected 24.7k), the unemployment rate also increased 6.8% in November (worse than expected 6.6% and previous 6.5%). This increase caused the market to boost its bet on a jumbo rate cut next Wednesday and the CAD slid to a near 4.5-year low against the

The USD is showing mixed performance with slight firmness against major currencies as the market cautiously anticipates the upcoming US inflation data. Bonds are generally firmer, while commodities present a mixed picture: crude and iron ore are down, whereas copper is up. Major currency movements are minimal; the MXN and NZD are leading with gains

Wednesday May 15, 2024 In the foreign exchange market, the US dollar (USD) is showing mixed strength against major currencies, with cautious trading in stocks before the US inflation data release. Bond markets are slightly firmer, while commodities like crude oil and iron ore are down but copper is up. Currency movements are limited, with