FINANCIAL NEWS HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK

United States

  • The Federal Reserve is not likely to increase interest rates until at least end-2023, however, this has not been enough to quench investors’ thirst for more liquidity.
  • Retail sales strengthened for the fourth straight month this August, with several categories above or close to pre-pandemic levels of sales. However, the recovery momentum is fading.
  • The labor market recovery has slowed with initial claims flattening at elevated levels. Almost 30 million people are still claiming unemployment benefits.

Canada

  • Financial markets were mixed this week, with the S&P/TSX flat on the week. Meanwhile, oil markets received a boost from a bullish EIA inventory report and Thursday’s OPEC+ meeting.
  • Economic data released this week continued to point to an ongoing recovery. However, improvements are uneven across the sectors. The highlight was the ongoing strength in resale housing markets that left sales 20% above their pre-pandemic levels.
  • Meanwhile, soft CPI inflation readings for August (0.1% y/y) once again served as a reminder that slack remains in the
    economy

 

 


U.S. – The Recovery Shifts In to Low Gear

Financial News: Several Retailers are Above Pre-Pandemic Sales U.S. financial markets had a bumpy ride this week. The highs early on were followed by a sharp drop after Chairman Powell failed to quench investors’ thirst for more liquidity. The declines were primarily led by large cap technology stocks, which have so far made major gains during the crisis. As of writing, the S&P 500 is on track to end the week about 0.1% lower compared to last week’s close.

On the economic front, the Federal Reserve indicated that there will be no interest rate increase until at least end-2023. The Fed said that it would not tighten policy until inflation is higher than 2% for “some time”, a move away from its previous policy goal of “maximum employment” and “symmetric 2% inflation”. This announcement makes the Fed’s desire to make up for past inflation underperformance more explicit. However, the Fed continued to remain vague on the period over which it seeks to achieve higher inflation. Despite the dovish stance, markets thought it wasn’t dovish enough. Equities slid, as investors were hoping for the Fed to magnify its QE by announcing the purchase of more government bonds.

In terms of economic data, retail sales strengthened for the fourth straight month in August with many of the major categories being very close to or even above their pre-pandemic level of sales (Chart 1). However, the momentum is fading as sales grew by a meagre 0.6% month-on-month in August, down from 0.9% in July. Cooling pent-up demand and a decline in income for a significant share of the population (due to CARES Act payments being stopped in end-July) may be responsible for this slowdown. However, the strength in retail has been uneven as it masks the continued weakness seen in clothing, restaurants and bars and department stores. It is important to keep in mind that some of the hardest-hit areas, especially high-touch services (recreation, childcare and haircuts etc.) are not included in these data.

Financial News- Initial Jobless Claims Are Flattening at Elevated Levels Turning to the housing market, starts weakened by 5.1% month-on-month. The decline was primarily driven by the multi-family segment, which fell by 23% on the month, reversing much of the gains seen during the summer. Single-family starts, on the other hand, jumped by 4.1%. Construction for single family homes is continuing at a solid pace on the back of perceived health risks posed by dense living as well as more permanent work from home policies. The housing market is likely to see slower gains in the coming months as economic recovery slows and pandemic-induced uncertainty abounds.

Meanwhile, the labor market recovery has slowed down (Chart 2). Initial jobless claims (860k) were broadly around consensus, down 33k from last week. Continuing claims came in at 12.6 million, beating the consensus (13 million) and down 1 million. Moreover, the number of people collecting unemployment benefits edged higher in late August. At almost 30 million people, the total remains incredibly high. Job growth is expected to be slower through the remainder of the year, with a full labor market recovery not taking months, or quarters, but years.

Sohaib Shahid, Senior Economist | 416-982-2556


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