Morning Market Brief: April 29, 2024

The Fed comes into the spotlight?

Market participants’ attention will turn to the US Federal Reserve Board (Fed) this week, which is sure to drive financial market performance. Economic activity in Canada will also come into the spotlight this week. The results will help fuel bets on how the Bank of Canada might react at its next meeting. But Canada and the US aren’t the only major economies with critical economic announcements coming up.?

• Statistics Canada will announce Canada’s gross domestic product for the month of February on Tuesday. Canada’s economy grew by 0.6% in January, its second straight monthly increase. Canada’s economy has been able to avoid a recession despite tight financial conditions.
• April’s manufacturing activity will be released on Wednesday by S&P Global. Canada’s manufacturing sector has contracted for 11 consecutive months, largely in response to muted demand.
• On Wednesday afternoon, global attention will turn to the Fed who will make its first interest-rate announcement of the second quarter. Markets are expecting the Fed to hold steady, but its statement and accompanying comments will be dissected for potential clues on when rate cuts might begin.
• Other major economic announcements include European consumer confidence today, China’s manufacturing sector activity tonight, European first-quarter economic growth on Tuesday, US manufacturing data on Wednesday and US labour market data on Friday.
• North American earnings announcements will continue this week. Notable earnings announcements in Canada are Restaurant Brands International, Loblaw, Cenovus, BCE, Air Canada, TMX Group, TELUS and Magna. Key earnings in the US include McDonald’s, 3M, Coca-Cola, Amazon.com , Starbucks, Pfizer, Mastercard and Apple.

The Fed’s announcement on Wednesday could bring swings in equity and bond markets as expectations adjust to the US central bank’s decision. Outside of the Fed, there are other critical economic announcements from Canada, Europe and Asia that investors will closely monitor.

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