IAIC Market Update - April 17, 2023
Last Week in the Markets: April 10th – 14th, 2023
(source: Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/markets, MSCI https://www.msci.com/end-of-day-data-search and ARG Inc. analysis)
What happened last week?
- Markets moved higher last week, except for gold. North American equity indexes all rose with the TSX leading with a nearly 2% increase. The Canadian dollar also added another 1% in value, as oil and Canadian bond rates also improved.
- The Bank of Canada released its interest rate decision on Wednesday morning and decided that no adjustments were needed at this time, holding the benchmark interest rate steady at 4½%. The plan to pause interest rates had been announced and enacted at the last interest rate announcement back on March 8th. The continuation of ‘the pause’ was predicated on demand slowing, inflation tempering, wage rises moderating, and Gross Domestic Product growth easing, which would demonstrate that domestic and international monetary action was affecting appropriate change.
- Evidence that consumer inflation was slowing was delivered from the U.S. on Wednesday morning with news that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) had settled back to a year-over-year rate of 5.0% for March after a modest 0.1% increase during that month. On Thursday the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) continued the trend by declining to 2.7% per year and by 0.5% in March.
- Increasing results in the fight against inflation suggests that future interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve may be smaller.
Source:
March 8 announcement,
CPI,
PPI,
CNN, US inflation and the Fed
What’s ahead for this week?
- In Canada, the Consumer Price Index report for March will be released on Tuesday, followed by the Industrial Producer and Raw Materials Price Indexes on Wednesday. Retail sales and housing starts are two more important indicators on the calendar.
- In the U.S., a relatively light week for announcements includes building permits, housing starts, existing home sales, National Association of Home Builders housing market index, and manufacturing and services Purchasing Managers Indexes.
- Globally, inflation news continues as the Eurozone is scheduled to release its CPI (along with Italy and Germany’s PPI) and consumer confidence. China will report its GDP and industrial production for the first quarter.
For more information contact:
Independent Accountants’ Investment Counsel Inc.
135 Main St. E. Listowel, ON
Phone: 519-291-2817 or TF: 1-877-291-3040
icpmss@iaic.ca
This report is produced by Independent Accountants' Investment Counsel Inc (“IAIC”) in conjunction with ARG Inc. All graph and chart statistical data contained in this report has been supplied by ARG Inc. The views and opinions expressed in this report are based on market statistics. No guarantee of outcome is implied and opinions may change without notice. Investors should not base any of their investment decisions solely on this report nor should any opinions expressed within this report be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities mentioned herein. Although the information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that IAIC believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy, and as such, the information may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions, estimates and other information included in this report constitute our judgment as of the date hereof and are subject to change without notice.
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