Briefing highlights
- 2017 economic growth pegged at about 3%
- Canada’s stock market a laggard
- Global markets mixed so far
- New York poised for weaker open
- Canadian dollar below 79.5 cents
Strong growth forecast
Canada is on track for its best economic performance in six years, with British Columbia's infant NDP government inheriting the strongest of the provinces.
In a new forecast, Bank of Nova Scotia projects Canada's economy will power ahead by 2.9 per cent this year, a far cry from the tepid 1.5 per cent of 2016 and stronger than the annual average 2.2 per cent between 2000 and 2015.
"The long-awaited recovery in investment and exports appears to be solidifying while consumption and residential investment remain robust," said Scotiabank chief economist Jean-François Perrault.
"We now forecast growth of 2.9 per cent in 2017, the strongest expansion in six years," he added in his report, referring to 2011's 3.1 per cent.
"British Columbia will lead the pack, posting growth of 3.2 per cent, but Ontario and Alberta will both grow by at least 3 per cent this year."
Economic speed across the country, though will slow next year to 1.9 per cent, Scotiabank forecast.
The economy expanded at an annual pace of 3.7 per cent in the first quarter, and Mr. Perrault expects something almost as fast for the second quarter.
As an aside, he added that this should help Ottawa's books, and that Scotiabank now projects a deficit for the current fiscal year of $23.5-billion, or about $1-billion better than the bank forecast earlier.
Scotiabank is not alone.
Bank of Montreal, for example, also recently upgraded its view for this year, calling for economic growth of 3 per cent.
"To frame that figure, the best year Canada has seen since 2000 was a 3.2-per-cent GDP advance in 2005," BMO chief economist Douglas Porter noted recently.
Read more
- David Parkinson: Canada’s economy posts ‘blow out’ growth
- David Parkinson: Canada leads G7 in economic growth: IMF
Chart of the day
Canada's stock market is an entirely different matter, a laggard, to be sure.
Here's Citigroup's latest "attractiveness" scores across global markets:
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Markets mixed
And on that note, global markets are mixed so far, with New York futures pointing down.
Tokyo's Nikkei and Hong Kong's Hang Seng each lost 0.3 per cent, while the Shanghai composite slipped 0.4 per cent.
In Europe, London's FTSE 100 and the Paris CAC 40 were up by between 0.1 and 0.2 per cent by about 5:45 a.m. ET., with Germany's DAX down 0.2 per cent.
New York futures were down, and the Canadian dollar was below 79.5 cents (U.S.).
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