Sharp rise in US business activity as new orders return to growth

The Bank of Canada today reduced its target for the overnight rate to 4¾%, with the Bank Rate at 5% and the deposit rate at 4¾%. The Bank is continuing its policy of balance sheet normalization. The global economy grew by about 3% in the first quarter of 2024, broadly in line with the Bank’s April Monetary Policy Report (MPR) projection. In the United States, the economy expanded more slowly than was expected, as weakness in exports and inventories weighed on activity. Growth in private domestic demand remained strong but eased. In the euro area, activity picked up in the first quarter of 2024. China’s economy was also stronger in the first quarter, buoyed by exports and industrial production, although domestic demand remained weak. Inflation in most advanced economies continues to ease, although progress towards price stability is bumpy and is proceeding at different speeds across regions. Oil prices have averaged close to the MPR assumptions, and financial conditions are little changed since April. In Canada, economic growth resumed in the first quarter of 2024 after stalling in the second half of last year. At 1.7%, first-quarter GDP growt post: Bank of Canada: "With continued evidence that underlying inflation is easing, ... monetary policy no longer needs to be as restrictive." "Recent data has increased our confidence that inflation will continue to move towards the 2% target." post: BOC'S GOV. MACKLEM: IT IS REASONABLE TO EXPECT MORE RATE CUTS IF INFLATION CONTINUES TO EASE. post: BOC'S GOV. MACKLEM: WE ARE TAKING OUR RATE DECISIONS ONE MEETING AT A TIME.Bank of Canada Rate Cut: How It Alters The Housing Market It happened. The Bank of Canada finally lowered its overnight rate. It was a characteristically cautious reduction — 5% to 4.75% — but as the Bank’s first rate cut in over four years, it brings with it a certain sense of cloud-parting. “With continued evidence that underlying inflation is easing, Governing Council agreed that monetary policy no longer needs to be as restrictive and reduced the policy interest rate by 25 basis points,” the Bank of Canada stated in a press release. A lower overnight rate means most lenders will be rolling out slightly lower prime rates in the next 24 hours. Expect softer variable rates on personal loans, certain credit cards and the two-trillion-dollar elephant in the room, mortgages. What will a modest reduction in variable rates mean for the housing market? We won’t really know until there’s a few months’ worth of data to chew on, but here are the likeliest scenarios.

Economic activity in the services sector grew in May after contracting in April for the first time since December 2022, say the nation's purchasing and supply executives in the ...