The Canadian dollar continued its descent against the US dollar today as retail sales figures crossed the wires lower than economists had expected. The weak retail number followed an unexpected decline in wholesale sales.
Retail sales figure of 0.4% was lower than expected. The marginal gain can be attributed to the automotive industry, while little gain was seen from the other sectors. Lower-than-expected retail sales may have BoC rethinking their hawkish position.
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2007/06/21/retailsaleapril.html
[I]Source: CBC[/I]
In 2010, Canada could become a net creditor for the first time in its history. This could be made possible by Canada?s annual current account surplus of around $25 billion. The forecast was released amid data that Canada?s foreign assets are growing and their foreign debt is falling.
http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=66dd82fc-5ec1-487f-803f-701573675d20&k=14640
[I]Source: Financial Post[/I]
The S&P/TSX moved higher today on a possible buyout by BCE Inc., Canada?s largest phone company. Bell Corp., a subsidiary of BCE Inc., is in merger talks with Telus Corp. which could result in the biggest buyout Canada has ever had.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=amRPPPZyM4Lo&refer=canada
[I]Source: Bloomberg[/I]
[B]Currency
[/B]The Canadian dollar continued its descent against the US dollar today as retail sales figures crossed the wires lower than economists had expected. The weak retail number followed an unexpected decline in wholesale sales. For the second time in two days, analysts overestimated the state of the Canadian economy, which could lead Governor Dodge to rethink rate hikes. The USDCAD was most recently quoted up at 1.0738.
[B]Equity[/B]
The TSX, Canada?s equity market index, exhaled a breath of relief this afternoon as it tacked on 46 points, leaving it at its most recently quoted 14,024.30. Lower retail sales, was overshadowed by merger talks between BCE Inc., Canada?s largest phone company and Telus Corporation. The index fell 141.33 points yesterday when US data reported higher than expected inventories of oil. Today, as oil draws near $70, Canadian energy companies are offsetting some of yesterdays decline.
[B]Fixed-income[/B]
The price of the Canadian 10-yr bond fell today as yields increased along with the US 10-yr treasury. Despite lower-than-expected retail sales, interest rate futures reflect a very strong expectation of an interest rate hike which would drive the price of the Canadian 10-yr lower.
