The BIG Picture

The U.S. Federal Reserve cut interest rates this past week, joining many other major developed central banks who have started to reduce interest rates in recent months.

A continued decline in inflationary pressures, coupled with ongoing signs of a cooling Canadian economy, prompted the Bank of Canada (BoC) to make its third consecutive interest rate cut this week.

Global markets moved higher over the past couple of weeks, with the Canadian equity market rebounding to new highs and U.S. equities nearing their mid-July peak. A

Equity markets have recently retraced some of their year-to-date gains. This market action can be attributed to a mixed earnings season, where results from several highly valued mega-cap tech companies underwhelmed relative to elevated expectations

It has been an eventful few weeks. The Bank of Canada cut interest rates for the second consecutive time. Meanwhile, global equities have been weaker, driven by a sector rotation rather than broad market weakness.

The summer has gotten off to a reasonable start with global equities moving higher in recent weeks.

Global equities have been somewhat directionless over the past few weeks. One notable development was the Canadian inflation report for May, which was higher than expected for the first time this year.

Canadian and European equities have been weaker in recent weeks, though year-to-date gains remain respectable. Meanwhile the U.S. equity market continues to display strength, driven by the large cap technology sector.

May has been a noticeably better month for markets.  A weaker pace of job growth and inflation numbers have rekindled hopes that the U.S. Federal Reserve may start cutting interest rates in the second half of the year.