Wall Street stocks are pushing ever further into uncharted territory as new data and corporate financials show that the economy and corporate America are still rebounding from the depths of the coronavirus crisis.
The S&P 500 has generated returns including dividends of 27 per cent so far this year as the blue-chip index has set record highs on more than 60 trading days, according to Goldman Sachs data.
Last week alone, US markets rallied 2 per cent, the best performance since June. Companies beaten down during the pandemic such as airlines, cruise operators and casinos advanced after Pfizer’s announcement on Friday that its antiviral pill successfully reduced hospitalisation rates stemming from Covid-19 by 90 per cent.
Evidence that the US economy is pulling itself out of the pandemic-induced downturn further bolstered sentiment, with the latest monthly jobs report showing a pick-up in job growth across nearly all sectors after several months of more lacklustre gains. More than 500,000 positions were created in October, and the unemployment rate fell to 4.6 per cent in a move that exceeded economists’ expectations.
The $1.2tn infrastructure spending bill passed late on Friday by the US House of Representatives could provide yet further fuel to the world’s biggest economy.
“We are on the train to normal,” said Kristina Hooper, chief global market strategist at Invesco. “We are not quite there yet but we are certainly moving in the right direction. Growth is re-accelerating and it’s helped by the new developments in Covid treatment.”
Michael Gapen, chief US economist at Barclays, also pointed to a report last week showing an uptick in US automobile sales and a survey indicating activity in the sprawling American services sector rising at an unprecedented pace. “We view incoming data this week as consistent with our expectation for improved economic momentum heading into year-end,” he said in a note to the investment bank’s clients.
Sentiment has also been bolstered by signs that large US companies are broadly managing to weather the surge in the prices of raw materials, supply chain bottlenecks and shortages in the labour market.
Earnings of companies listed on the S&P 500 rose about 40 per cent in the third quarter from the same period in 2020, according to data collated by FactSet on corporate reports issued in recent weeks.
Profit margins slipped to about 12.3 per cent from 12.6 per cent the previous quarter on aggregate, but that was still about 0.7 percentage points better than analysts had anticipated before the earnings season kick-off, according to Goldman Sachs.
“Despite lingering global supply chain disruptions and elevated inflation, companies have successfully navigated most margin headwinds by relying on pricing power,” the Wall Street investment bank noted.
The Pfizer announcement on Friday provided a further boost to investors’ confidence, with Scott Gottlieb, a former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and a member of Pfizer’s board, saying that the pandemic could be over by January.
Live Nation Entertainment, which puts on live concerts that have been curtailed by social restrictions during the pandemic, rose more than 20 per cent for the week, its biggest move higher since March 2020 when the Fed first stepped into financial markets to quell the downturn stemming from the pandemic. Cruise operator Royal Caribbean was also among the biggest risers for the week, up more than 14 per cent.
“We have moved into a new phase of the pandemic,” said Rebecca Patterson, director of investment research at Bridgewater, adding that the jolt higher in stock markets had also been underpinned by signals from central banks that they would only slowly unravel crisis-era stimulus measures.
The Federal Reserve took its first big step towards ending pandemic-era crisis support for financial markets on Wednesday, announcing that it would begin scaling back its $120bn-a-month asset purchase programme with an aim to end the stimulus altogether by the second half of next year.
However, Fed chair Jay Powell’s reassurance that the central bank was pursuing a patient approach when it came to raising interest rates helped to ease investors’ angst that a substantive move towards higher borrowing costs was soon forthcoming. “He is doing everything he can to avoid confusion,” said Hooper.
Additional reporting by Nicholas Megaw and Kate Duguid
OTTAWA – Canada’s unemployment rate held steady at 6.5 per cent last month as hiring remained weak across the economy.
Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday said employment rose by a modest 15,000 jobs in October.
Business, building and support services saw the largest gain in employment.
Meanwhile, finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing experienced the largest decline.
Many economists see weakness in the job market continuing in the short term, before the Bank of Canada’s interest rate cuts spark a rebound in economic growth next year.
Despite ongoing softness in the labour market, however, strong wage growth has raged on in Canada. Average hourly wages in October grew 4.9 per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.76.
Friday’s report also shed some light on the financial health of households.
According to the agency, 28.8 per cent of Canadians aged 15 or older were living in a household that had difficulty meeting financial needs – like food and housing – in the previous four weeks.
That was down from 33.1 per cent in October 2023 and 35.5 per cent in October 2022, but still above the 20.4 per cent figure recorded in October 2020.
People living in a rented home were more likely to report difficulty meeting financial needs, with nearly four in 10 reporting that was the case.
That compares with just under a quarter of those living in an owned home by a household member.
Immigrants were also more likely to report facing financial strain last month, with about four out of 10 immigrants who landed in the last year doing so.
That compares with about three in 10 more established immigrants and one in four of people born in Canada.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
The Canadian Institute for Health Information says health-care spending in Canada is projected to reach a new high in 2024.
The annual report released Thursday says total health spending is expected to hit $372 billion, or $9,054 per Canadian.
CIHI’s national analysis predicts expenditures will rise by 5.7 per cent in 2024, compared to 4.5 per cent in 2023 and 1.7 per cent in 2022.
This year’s health spending is estimated to represent 12.4 per cent of Canada’s gross domestic product. Excluding two years of the pandemic, it would be the highest ratio in the country’s history.
While it’s not unusual for health expenditures to outpace economic growth, the report says this could be the case for the next several years due to Canada’s growing population and its aging demographic.
Canada’s per capita spending on health care in 2022 was among the highest in the world, but still less than countries such as the United States and Sweden.
The report notes that the Canadian dental and pharmacare plans could push health-care spending even further as more people who previously couldn’t afford these services start using them.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 7, 2024.
Canadian Press health coverage receives support through a partnership with the Canadian Medical Association. CP is solely responsible for this content.
As Canadians wake up to news that Donald Trump will return to the White House, the president-elect’s protectionist stance is casting a spotlight on what effect his second term will have on Canada-U.S. economic ties.
Some Canadian business leaders have expressed worry over Trump’s promise to introduce a universal 10 per cent tariff on all American imports.
A Canadian Chamber of Commerce report released last month suggested those tariffs would shrink the Canadian economy, resulting in around $30 billion per year in economic costs.
More than 77 per cent of Canadian exports go to the U.S.
Canada’s manufacturing sector faces the biggest risk should Trump push forward on imposing broad tariffs, said Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters president and CEO Dennis Darby. He said the sector is the “most trade-exposed” within Canada.
“It’s in the U.S.’s best interest, it’s in our best interest, but most importantly for consumers across North America, that we’re able to trade goods, materials, ingredients, as we have under the trade agreements,” Darby said in an interview.
“It’s a more complex or complicated outcome than it would have been with the Democrats, but we’ve had to deal with this before and we’re going to do our best to deal with it again.”
American economists have also warned Trump’s plan could cause inflation and possibly a recession, which could have ripple effects in Canada.
It’s consumers who will ultimately feel the burden of any inflationary effect caused by broad tariffs, said Darby.
“A tariff tends to raise costs, and it ultimately raises prices, so that’s something that we have to be prepared for,” he said.
“It could tilt production mandates. A tariff makes goods more expensive, but on the same token, it also will make inputs for the U.S. more expensive.”
A report last month by TD economist Marc Ercolao said research shows a full-scale implementation of Trump’s tariff plan could lead to a near-five per cent reduction in Canadian export volumes to the U.S. by early-2027, relative to current baseline forecasts.
Retaliation by Canada would also increase costs for domestic producers, and push import volumes lower in the process.
“Slowing import activity mitigates some of the negative net trade impact on total GDP enough to avoid a technical recession, but still produces a period of extended stagnation through 2025 and 2026,” Ercolao said.
Since the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement came into effect in 2020, trade between Canada and the U.S. has surged by 46 per cent, according to the Toronto Region Board of Trade.
With that deal is up for review in 2026, Canadian Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Candace Laing said the Canadian government “must collaborate effectively with the Trump administration to preserve and strengthen our bilateral economic partnership.”
“With an impressive $3.6 billion in daily trade, Canada and the United States are each other’s closest international partners. The secure and efficient flow of goods and people across our border … remains essential for the economies of both countries,” she said in a statement.
“By resisting tariffs and trade barriers that will only raise prices and hurt consumers in both countries, Canada and the United States can strengthen resilient cross-border supply chains that enhance our shared economic security.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.
