Insights

The Fed has finally aggressively lowered interest rates. While a steeper yield curve reflects the market’s optimism that rate cuts will shore up the economic outlook, further steepness could be a sign the Fed will cut rates deeply, likely due to a re

The U.S. Federal Reserve held interest rates steady in its policy update this week, following the path of other central banks

All eyes have been focused on the Middle East over the past two weeks, as the region has seen a sharp escalation in tensions following the Hamas terrorist attack on Israel and the responding military assault on Hamas in Gaza.

Global equity markets gave back some of their year-to-date gains so far in September, while government bond yields moved noticeably higher.

The second half of the summer has brought a slight decline in both equity and bond markets. Investors’ immediate attention is on third-quarter results from Canadian banks and takeaways from a major conference of global central bank leaders.

Global equity markets have declined slightly so far in August, aided by the U.S. credit rating downgrade by Fitch Ratings, one of three leading credit rating agencies.

Investors have been tasked with interpreting a flurry of global economic data over the past two weeks, including signals of resilient but moderating growth in North America, broadening economic weakness in Europe, and a stalled recovery in China.

It has been a busy start to the summer. This week, the Bank of Canada raised its policy interest rate by 0.25%, as expected. Inflation figures released this week in the U.S. suggested that pricing pressures continue to ease.