Economic releases to watch this week

This will be a busy week for economic releases domestically, says Prab Sagoo, associate director at Nasdaq Advisory Services. He adds GDP, retail and CPI data will headline.

On the global front, the Bank of Japan is meeting on Monday and Tuesday. Also, U.S. GDP and consumer sentiment will likely to be closely watched at the end of the week.

Additional highlights

• The TSX ended slightly lower last week having touched its highest point in 20 months. Market movements were centred around a Federal Reserve interest rate hike, which was accompanied by a statement that was more hawkish than anticipated.
• Materials stocks were notable losers, down 6% with the price of gold taking a hit. Other base metals were also lower on the week. Read: Positive signs for well-positioned junior miners
• Industrials, one of the strongest domestic performers since the U.S. election gave up 2%, while income sensitive REITs and telco names also lagged. Utilities and Energy stocks were the outperformers.
• Selling was concentrated amongst the small caps, which underperformed. But oil prices gained slightly, though the loonie sagged against the greenback after the Fed’s hike.
• Canadian and U.S. government yield curves steepened, with the Canadian five-year yield moving past 1.2% for the first time since January 2015.
• Looking forward, December 23rd is the last day for U.S. and Canadian tax-loss selling. Read: Important year-end tax deadlines

Staff

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