Below are some key quotes from a news conference by Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem on Wednesday after the central bank held interest rate steady.
MACKLEM ON UNEMPLOYMENT RATES
“You can’t summarize the entire labour market with one statistic. The unemployment rate is important one but in assessing the labour market you do need to look at a broader range of indicators and we’ve published a dashboard to show everybody what we’re looking at.”
MACKLEM ON BONDS AND INFLATION
“I really want to disabuse you of the idea that there is any sort of direct effect between bond buying and inflation. Bond buying is part of a package of monetary policy tools we use to lower interest rates. That’s important to supporting the recovery and it’s working very effectively.”
MACKLEM ON RAISING INTEREST RATES SOONER
“We took an important step today, we ended quantitative easing. We’ve also… indicated in our new forecast, that we now expect slack to be absorbed sooner. And that signals that we will be considering raising interest rates sooner than we previously thought. So interest rates don’t need to be as low for as long to get that full recovery and to get inflation back.”
MACKLEM ON INFLATION PRESSURES MOVING FORWARD
“As we move forward, we do expect that those (production bottlenecks) will ease. Vaccinations are working. People around the world are getting vaccinated. That should reduce the spread of the virus. That should reduce these production problems. That should reduce the labor shortages or shutdowns at ports. Companies are investing in logistics. That should also help cut through these bottlenecks.”
MACKLEM ON SIGNS OF PROLONGED INFLATIONARY PRESSURES
“We are watching closely inflation expectations and wage costs for any signs that these increases in prices of globally traded goods start to spread and lead to more generalized and more ongoing inflation.
“So far we are not seeing that. But if we do see that we will certainly take action and adjust our monetary policy stance further to deal with it and bring inflation back to target … Bottom line is, Canadians can have confidence that inflation will come back to target.”
TORONTO – Strength in the base metal and technology sectors helped Canada’s main stock index gain almost 100 points on Friday, while U.S. stock markets also climbed higher.
The S&P/TSX composite index closed up 93.51 points at 23,568.65.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was up 297.01 points at 41,393.78. The S&P 500 index was up 30.26 points at 5,626.02, while the Nasdaq composite was up 114.30 points at 17,683.98.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.61 cents US compared with 73.58 cents US on Thursday.
The October crude oil contract was down 32 cents at US$68.65 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was down five cents at US$2.31 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$30.10 at US$2,610.70 an ounce and the December copper contract was up four cents US$4.24 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
OTTAWA – Statistics Canada says wholesale sales, excluding petroleum, petroleum products, and other hydrocarbons and excluding oilseed and grain, rose 0.4 per cent to $82.7 billion in July.
The increase came as sales in the miscellaneous subsector gained three per cent to reach $10.5 billion in July, helped by strength in the agriculture supplies industry group, which rose 9.2 per cent.
The food, beverage and tobacco subsector added 1.7 per cent to total $15 billion in July.
The personal and household goods subsector fell 2.5 per cent to $12.1 billion.
In volume terms, overall wholesale sales rose 0.5 per cent in July.
Statistics Canada started including oilseed and grain as well as the petroleum and petroleum products subsector as part of wholesale trade last year, but is excluding the data from monthly analysis until there is enough historical data.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Canada’s main stock index was up more than 150 points in late-morning trading, helped by strength in the base metal and energy sectors, while U.S. stock markets were mixed.
The S&P/TSX composite index was up 172.18 points at 23,383.35.
In New York, the Dow Jones industrial average was down 34.99 points at 40,826.72. The S&P 500 index was up 10.56 points at 5,564.69, while the Nasdaq composite was up 74.84 points at 17,470.37.
The Canadian dollar traded for 73.55 cents US compared with 73.59 cents US on Wednesday.
The October crude oil contract was up $2.00 at US$69.31 per barrel and the October natural gas contract was up five cents at US$2.32 per mmBTU.
The December gold contract was up US$40.00 at US$2,582.40 an ounce and the December copper contract was up six cents at US$4.20 a pound.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.
