Morning Market Brief December 23, 2024

Canadian GDP in the spotlight

It will be a short week for financial markets in Canada and abroad in response to the holidays. Canada’s key economic announcements will be released today, highlighted by Canadian gross domestic product (GDP). Canadian equity and bond markets will be closed on Wednesday and Thursday. Here’s what to watch for this week.

• Statistics Canada (StatsCan) will announce Canada’s GDP for October today. Canada’s economy grew by 0.1% in September. Rising retail trade was partially offset by a decline in oil and gas extraction. StatsCan estimated the Canadian economy grew by 0.1% in October.
• The Bank of Canada (BoC) will release its Summary of Deliberations today. At its December meeting, the BoC lowered its benchmark overnight interest rate by 50 basis points to 3.25%.
• In the US, durable goods orders will be released on Tuesday. This will provide insight on the strength of business investment during the month of November. US building permits, new home sales and initial jobless claims will also be released over the week.
• Looking around the world, the Bank of Japan’s meeting minutes will be released tonight, China’s industrial profits on Thursday and Spain’s retail sales on Friday.

2025 is quickly approaching. It’ll be important to monitor the last few economic announcements this year, which could set the stage for the global economy, financial markets and central bank actions next year. Inflation and central bank actions played a key role in financial markets over 2024. Central banks, the policy direction of the new US administration and ongoing geopolitical tensions all could factor into the performance of financial markets in 2025.

At CIBC Private Wealth, we aim to take a comprehensive approach to managing, building and protecting your wealth. If you'd like to discuss this market and economic update in more detail, please get in touch with your advisor any time.