There will be several critical economic announcements out of Canada over this shortened week, ending with labour market results for July. Looking elsewhere, global economic announcements will be relatively quiet this week, but a bevy of earnings results will help drive financial markets. Global equity markets ended July with some volatility as investors considered relatively weak economic data along with the future direction of central banks. Here is what to watch for this week.
- Canada’s business activity for the month of July will be released today. Business activity contracted in June amid a decline in both the manufacturing and services sectors.
- Canada’s labour market will come into the spotlight on Friday. Canada’s unemployment rate rose to its highest level since January 2022 as the economy lost jobs. The labour market’s cooling off helped push the Bank of Canada to begin lowering interest rates.
- The US will make relatively few economic announcements this week. The US trade balance will be announced today, and initial jobless claims will be announced on Thursday.
- Looking elsewhere, European retail sales will be released today, China’s trade balance on Wednesday, China’s inflation rate on Thursday and Germany’s inflation rate on Friday.
- Earnings announcements continue. Notable earnings in Canada include Labrador Iron Ore, Suncor, Air Canada, Shopify, Manulife, Canadian Tire, Restaurant Brands, Brookfield, Quebecor, RioCan, Saputo and CCL. In the US, key earnings include Uber, CVS Health, Walt Disney and Eli Lilly.
With most major central banks starting to lower interest rates and the US Federal Reserve Board likely following suit relatively soon, investor attention has begun to turn to the health of the global economy. Investors are analyzing the data to see if central banks can navigate through a soft-landing. Thus, global financial markets have experienced some bouts of volatility in recent months. Global equity markets, including those in Canada and the US, were up through the end of July.
If you would like to discuss this economic and market update or have questions about your finances and investments, please feel free to contact me anytime.