Morning Market Brief: July 29, 2024

Attention turns to the Fed?

Amid a busy week for economic announcements, the US Federal Reserve Board (Fed) will take centre stage with its interest-rate announcement on Wednesday. Predictions and the Fed’s actual decision on Wednesday will affect financial markets over the week. Canada will be making two critical announcements this week, which will both give insight into the overall health of the economy. Here is what to watch for this week.?

• The Fed concludes its July meeting by making its interest-rate announcement on Wednesday. A Bloomberg survey shows economists are expecting the Fed to hold steady. However, market participants will search for clues on when they might expect a rate cut.
• Canada’s gross domestic product for May will also be announced on Wednesday. Canada’s economy grew by 0.3% in April. Statistics Canada estimates a 0.1% expansion in May.
• Canada’s manufacturing activity will be released on Thursday. Canada’s manufacturing sector has been weak over the past several years, hampered by soft domestic and global demand for manufactured goods.
• Other critical announcements include European economic growth on Tuesday, China’s manufacturing activity on Tuesday night, the Bank of Japan’s rate decision and European inflation on Wednesday, the Bank of England’s rate decision on Thursday and US labour market data on Friday.
• Stay on the lookout for several key earnings announcements. Key earnings in Canada include George Weston, Boardwalk REIT, CGI, GFL, TMX Group, BCE, Canadian Natural Resources, TELUS, Enbridge and Imperial Oil. Notable earnings in the US include McDonald’s, Starbucks, Microsoft, Mastercard, Meta Platforms, Intel, Amazon and Apple.

The week will bring plenty of key economic announcements other than the Fed’s rate decision. Still, the Fed’s announcement on Wednesday will likely steal the headlines, followed by decisions from other major central banks. It looks like it is shaping up to be an exciting week for market participants.

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