North American markets made it two winning days in a row to get this week started.
On Bay Street rosy economic data from the manufacturing sector and higher oil prices helped Canada’s main stock market jump up. An optimistic outlook on NAFTA negotiations also contributed, and the TSX closed the day at 15,353, up 52 points.
On Wall Street yesterday’s rally continued into today. Customer service and technology companies played a big part, with industrials doing some heavy lifting as well as investors continue to like what they see during earnings season. The Dow Jones was up 213 points, closing at 24,786.
Canada’s economy is expected to see some growth this year, though not as much as first thought. The International Monetary Fund is projecting 2.1 per cent growth in 2018 and two per cent in 2019. In January the IMF projected 2.3 per cent for this year. Last year the Canadian economy grew by three per cent.
Traders will be watching tomorrow as the Bank of Canada announces its plans for the current interest rate. Some economists are suggesting the BoC won’t make any changes until June.
At press time oil is up 24 cents to $66.46 U.S. per barrel, gold is down 60 cents to $1350.10 an ounce, and the loonie is up a shade to 79.65 cents U.S.
