Briefing highlights
- Canadian dollar at aboutr 78 cents
- Markets at a glance
- TD raises dividend as profit slips
- Trump poised for steel, aluminum tariffs
- MEC drops brands linked to U.S. gun maker
- Canadian Natural profit sinks
- Husky reinstates dividend
- Crescent Point reports smaller loss
- What to watch for today
Heading south
The Canadian dollar is going south, which means you probably shouldn't.
The loonie fell below 78 US cents Wednesday, and took a bit of a bounce today. So far, it has traded between 77.6 and just above the 78 mark, good news for exporters but not for Canadian families heading south for March Break, with suddenly that much less buying power.
Note, too, that analysts are watching for even further weakness in the currency, particularly given a key reading Friday on economic growth and a Bank of Canada rate decision and policy statement next week.
"Momentum is on the side of a test of the 1.2920 area," said Bipan Rai, executive director of macro strategy at CIBC World Markets.
By that he means that, when you flip it around, the next level to watch for would be about 77.4 US cents.
Part of this has to do with the gains in the U.S. dollar after hawkish comments from Jerome Powell, the new chair of the Federal Reserve, in committee testimony earlier this week. He continues that testimony today, this time to a Senate committee.
Added to that, said Mr. Rai, was market speculation that "the Bank of Canada won't be quite so aggressive."
We're heading into a few days of uncertainty.
First up is Statistics Canada, which on Friday releases its report on fourth-quarter economic growth. Economists expect that report to show slim growth in December, and an annual pace for the quarter of about 1.7 to 2.1 per cent.
Then next week, central bank governor Stephen Poloz and his colleagues are expected to hold their benchmark overnight rate at 1.25 per cent. What follows that is the big question, with observers expecting between one and three more rate hikes this year.
So whatever the Bank of Canada signals next week could be key to the fate of the loonie.
Read more
- Follow our Inside the Market
- ’Dead CAD bounce’: Why TD sees the Canadian dollar as ‘our favourite short’
- Crazy as a loon: The chasm in forecasts for the Canadian dollar
- Loonie pops 1¢ in a day as markets kiss ‘immensely unloved’ greenback goodbye
- Stock market angst: You want the good or bad news first? (Then let’s talk about the Canadian dollar)
Markets at a glance
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TD boosts dividend
Toronto-Dominion Bank posted a 7-per-cent dip in first-quarter profit, largely because of U.S. tax reforms, and raised its dividend by seven cents.
Profit slipped to $2.4-billion, or $1.24 a share, diluted, from $2.5-billion or $1.32 a share a year earlier.
Adjusted, profit rose to $2.9-billion, or $1.56 a share, from $2.6-billion or $1.33.
The dividend goes to 67 cents.
TD is the last major Canadian bank to report results, and is just one of many major companies posting quarterly earnings today.
Read more
- TD beats profit forecasts, hikes dividend
- Canadian Natural Resources profit drops 30 per cent
- Husky Energy reinstates dividend as crude prices rise
- Crescent Point reports smaller loss on higher oil prices, production
MEC drops brands
Mountain Equipment Co-op, facing a backlash from some of its members, will stop selling several popular outdoor brands owned by a U.S. company that also markets assault rifles, The Globe and Mail's David Ebner reports.
MEC doesn't sell guns but does carry brands such as Bushnell – binoculars - and CamelBak – water bottles and such. These names are owned by Vista Outdoor Inc., based in Farmington, Utah., a company on which attention has turned in the past two weeks.
About half of Vista Outdoor sales are in guns and ammunition, including sales to law enforcement and militaries. Its Savage Arms brand sells semi-automatic military-style weapons, similar to the one used in the murder of 14 teenagers and three adults at a high school in Florida in mid-February.
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