Category: Uncategorized

Published: 9/13/2024 5:38 PM ET  | 

The Canadian market climbed to a new all-time high on Friday, with stocks from healthcare, real estate and materials sectors contributing to the rise.

Expectations of an interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve next week, and further reductions in the coming months helped underpin sentiment.

The benchmark S&P/TSX Composite Index, which hit a new intra-day high at 23,637.25, ended the day’s session with a gain of 93.51 points or 0.4% at 23,568.65. The index gained 3.5% in the week.

Healthcare stocks Tilray Inc (TLRY.TO) and Chartwell Retirement Residences (CSH.UN.TO) gained 3% and 3.3%, respectively. Sienna Senior Living (SIA.TO) climbed nearly 1.5%.

Real estate stocks Allied Properties (AP.UN.TO), Riocan Real Estate (REI.UN.TO), Northwest Healthcare (NWH.UN.TO), CDN Apartment (CAR.UN.TO) and Smartcentres Real Estate (SRU.UN.TO) gained 3 to 4.15%.

In the materials sector, New Gold (NGD.TO), Calibre Mining Corp (CXB.TO), Canfor Corp (CFP.TO), Silvercrest Metals (SIL.TO), MAG Silver Corp (MAG.TO), First Majestic Silver Corp (AG.TO), Interfor Corp (IFP.TO), Fortuna Silver Mines (FVI.TO), Aya Gold and Silver (AYA.TO) and Wesdome Gold Mines (WDO.TO) closed higher by 4 to 7.5%.

Among other gainers, Telesat Corporation (TSAT.TO) soared 15.4%. Kinaxis Inc (KXS.TO) gained about 3.1%. West Fraser Timber (WFG.TO), Colliers International (CIGI.TO) and Toromont Industries (TIH.TO) also ended notably higher.

Boyd Group Services (BYD.TO), Canadian Natural Resources (CNQ.TO), Dollarama Inc (DOL.TO) and Morguard Corporation (MRC.TO) lost 1 to 2.5%.

On the economic front, data from Statistics Canada showed Canadian industries operated at 79.1% of their production capacity in the second quarter of 2024, up slightly from a revised 78.6% in the first quarter and above market estimates of 78.4%.

A separate data from Statistics Canada showed wholesale sales in Canada rose by 0.4% month-over-month in July 2024, contrasting with the preliminary estimate of a 1.1% drop and following a 0.6% decrease in the prior month.

Sep 10, 2024, 17:01 ET

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VANCOUVER, BC, Sept. 10, 2024 /CNW/ – West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd. (“West Fraser” or the “Company”) (TSX and NYSE: WFG) has declared a quarterly dividend of US$0.32 per share on the Common shares and Class B Common shares in the capital of the Company, payable on October 11, 2024 to shareholders of record on September 26, 2024.

Dividends are designated to be eligible dividends pursuant to subsection 89(14) of the Income Tax Act (Canada) and any applicable provincial legislation pertaining to eligible dividends.

Dividends are declared and payable in U.S. dollars. Shareholders may elect to receive their dividends in Canadian dollars. Details regarding the election procedure are available on our website at www.westfraser.com in the “Investors/Stock Information/Dividends” section.

About West Fraser
West Fraser is a diversified wood products company with more than 60 facilities in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, which promotes sustainable forest practices in its operations. The Company produces lumber, engineered wood products (OSB, LVL, MDF, plywood, and particleboard), pulp, newsprint, wood chips, other residuals, and renewable energy. West Fraser’s products are used in home construction, repair and remodelling, industrial applications, papers, tissue, and box materials. For more information about West Fraser, visit: westfraser.com.

SOURCE West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd.

Published: 9/11/2024 5:48 AM ET | 

Oil prices jumper over 2 percent on Wednesday, after having dropped to near three years lows in the New York session on concerns over a weak demand outlook.

The upside was supported by a weaker dollar and industry data showing a drop in U.S. crude inventories.

Benchmark Brent crude futures climbed 2.2 percent to $70.70 a barrel after falling below $70 to the lowest since December 2021 on Tuesday.

WTI crude futures were up 2.5 percent at $67.36 after falling to the lowest since May 2023 as OPEC revised down its 2024 oil demand growth forecast for a second time.

A weaker dollar offered some support ahead of U.S. consumer inflation data due later in the day which could shed light on the size of a widely expected rate cut by the Federal Reserve at next week’s policy meeting

Meanwhile, the American Petroleum Institute (API) reported that U.S. crude stocks fell by 2.793 million barrels for the week ending September 6, while analysts had expected a 700,000-barrel build.

Gasoline stocks declined by 513,000 barrels and distillates inventories rose by 191,000 barrels, the report revealed.

The weekly oil report from the Energy Information Administration is due later in the day.

Prices increased as expected in August while the annual inflation rate declined to its lowest level since February 2021, according to a Labor Department report Wednesday that sets the stage for a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in a week.

The consumer price index, a broad measure of goods and services costs across the U.S. economy, increased 0.2% for the month, in line with the Dow Jones consensus.

That put the 12-month inflation rate at 2.5%, down 0.4 percentage point from the July level and compared to the estimate for 2.6%.

However, so-called core CPI, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, increased 0.3% for the month, slightly higher than the 0.2% estimate. The 12-month core inflation rate was 3.2%, in line with the forecast.

https://www.cnbc.com/2024/09/11/cpi-inflation-report-august-2024-.html

Monday September 9

China CPI, PPI, aggregate yuan financing, new yuan losses and trade surplus

Japan real GDP and bank lending

Germany retail sales

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. wholesale inventories for July.

(3 p.m. ET) U.S. consumer credit for July.

Earnings include: Oracle Corp.

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Tuesday September 10

Japan machine toll orders

Germany CPI

England employment

(6 a.m. ET) U.S. NFIB Small Business Economic Trends for Survey for August.

(8:10 a.m. ET) Bank of Canada governor Tiff Macklem speaks at the Canada-U.K. Chamber of Commerce in London (with press conference to follow at 9:30 a.m.)

Earnings include: GameStop Corp.

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Wednesday September 11

UK GDP, services index, industrial and manufacturing production and trade deficit

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. CPI for August. The Street expects an increase of 0.2 per cent from July and up 3.2 per cent year-over-year.

Earnings include: Dollarama Inc.; Transcontinental Inc.

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Thursday September 12

ECB Monetary Policy Meeting

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s national balance sheet and financial flow accounts for Q2.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian building permits for July. Estimate is a rise of 10.0 per cent month-over-month.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. initial jobless claims for week for Sept. 7. Estimate is 232,000, up 5,000 from the previous week.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. PPI for August. Consensus is a rise of 0.2 per cent from July and up 1.8 per cent year-over-year.

(12 p.m. ET) U.S. flow of funds for Q2.

(2 p.m. ET) U.S. budget balance for August.

Earnings include: Adobe Systems Inc.; Empire Co. Ltd.; Kroger Co.

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Friday September 13

China industrial production, retail sales and fixed asset investment

Japan and Euro zone industrial production

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canada’s capacity utilization for Q2.

(8:30 a.m. ET) Canadian wholesale trade for July.

(8:30 a.m. ET) U.S. import prices for August. The Street expects a decline of 0.3 per cent from July but up 0.7 per cent year-over-year.

(10 a.m. ET) U.S. University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment for September.

Published: 9/6/2024 3:13 PM ET | 

Oil prices fell to an 18-month low of Friday, weighed down persisting concerns about the outlook for oil demand.

Data showing a much less than expected increase in private sector as well as non-farm payroll growth in the U.S. and the possibility of increased oil supply from Libya weighed on oil prices.

West Texas Intermediate Crude oil futures for October ended down by $1.48 or about 2.1% at $67.67 a barrel, the lowest settlement since March 2023. WTI crude futures shed about 8% in the week.

Brent crude futures ended lower by $1.63 or about 2.2% at $71.06 a barrel.

The Labor Department said non-farm payroll employment climbed by 142,000 jobs in August compared to economist estimates for an increase of 160,000 jobs.

The report also said the increases in employment in June in July were downwardly revised to 118,000 jobs and 89,000 jobs, respectively, reflecting a net downward revision of 86,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the Labor Department said the unemployment rate edged down to 4.2% in August from 4.3% in July.

BRP Inc. DOO-T -3.56%decrease reported its second-quarter profit and revenue fell compared with a year ago and cut its guidance for the year as it said it faced a challenging retail environment.

The maker of Ski-Doo snowmobiles and Sea-Doo watercraft says it earned $7.2-million or nine cents per diluted share for the quarter ended July 31, down from a profit of $338.7-million or $4.26 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue in the quarter totalled $1.84-billion, down from $2.78-billion in the same quarter last year.

On a normalized basis, BRP says it earned 61 cents per diluted share in its latest quarter, down from a normalized profit of $3.21 per diluted share a year ago.

In its outlook, BRP says it now expects revenue for the year to total between $7.8-billion and $8.0-billion, down from earlier guidance for between $8.6-billion and $8.9-billion.

The company also says it now expects its normalized earnings per diluted share to come in between $2.75 and $3.25 for the year, down from earlier guidance for between $6.00 and $7.00.

U.S. employment increased less than expected in August, but a drop in the jobless rate to 4.2 per cent suggested an orderly labour market slowdown continued and probably did not warrant a big interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve this month.

Nonfarm payrolls increased by 142,000 jobs last month after a downwardly revised 89,000 rise in July, the Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics said on Friday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast payrolls increasing by 160,000 jobs after a previously reported 114,000 gain in July. Estimates ranged from 100,000 to 245,000 jobs.

The smaller-than-expected increase in payrolls likely does not signal a deterioration in labour market conditions.

August payrolls have a tendency to initially print weaker relative to the consensus estimate and recent trend before being revised higher later. Hiring typically picks up in the education sector, which is anticipated by the model that the government uses to strip out seasonal fluctuations from the data.

The start of the new school year, however, varies across the country, which can throw off the so-called seasonal factors. The initial August payrolls counts have been revised higher in 10 of the last 13 years. Layoffs remain at historic low levels.

The drop in the unemployment rate followed four straight monthly increases, which had lifted it near a three-year high of 4.3 per cent in July. Early on Friday, financial markets saw a roughly 43 per cent probability of a half-point rate cut at the Fed’s Sept. 17-18 policy meeting, according to CME Group’s FedWatch Tool. The odds of a 25 basis point rate reduction were around 57 per cent.

Average hourly earnings increased 0.4 per cent in August after falling 0.1 per cent in July. Wages increased 3.8 per cent year-on-year after advancing 3.6 per cent in July. Still-solid wage growth continues to underpin the economy through consumer spending.

Canada’s unemployment rate continued to trend higher in August – reaching 6.6 per cent – as the job market slowdown hits workers and job seekers unevenly.

Statistics Canada’s labour force survey on Friday showed the economy added a modest 22,000 jobs last month, lagging the pace of population growth.

The jobless rate increased from 6.4 per cent in July.

Employment last month rose in educational services, health care and social assistance and finance, insurance, real estate, rental and leasing.

Meanwhile, it fell in the other services category as well as professional, scientific and technical services, utilities and natural resources.

As the job market continues to weaken under the weight of high interest rates, students and recent immigrants are shouldering much of the pain.

Students returning to school in the fall faced a particularly challenging summer job market this year. Their unemployment rate rose to the highest level since summer 2012, excluding the pandemic summer of 2020.

Between May and August, the unemployment rate for students was 16.7 per cent on average, up from 12.9 per cent last year.

“Much of the unemployment rate increases to-date have come from longer job searches for new labour market entrants (particularly students) but layoffs are also rising under the surface,” wrote RBC assistant chief economist Nathan Janzen in a client note.

The summer job market was even more difficult for Black, Chinese and South Asian students, who faced considerably higher unemployment rates.

Black students had the highest unemployment rate of 29.5 per cent, up a whopping 10.1 per cent from summer 2023.

The latest rise in unemployment comes days after the Bank of Canada delivered its third consecutive interest rate cut and signalled more would likely be on the way.

Governor Tiff Macklem has repeatedly said the central bank wants economic growth to pick up again, acknowledging the job market has slowed down significantly.

As finding work becomes more challenging, the number of unemployed people grew to 1.5 million in August, a 22.9 per cent jump from the same month last year.

Friday’s report notes that of those who were unemployed in July, 16.7 per cent had transitioned to work in August, a smaller share than in August 2023.

“From the Bank of Canada’s perspective, higher unemployment coupled with persistent declines in per-capita GDP will reinforce that inflation will continue to drift lower and clearly argues for further interest rate cuts from what are still elevated levels,” said Janzen.

Despite the marked slowdown in hiring, workers have continued to enjoy rapid wage growth, with many of them restoring their pre-pandemic purchasing power.

Overall, average hourly wages in August were up five per cent from a year ago, reaching $35.16.

However, recent immigrants’ wage growth has been flat.

Statistics Canada says average hourly wage growth for those who landed in Canada over the last five years decreased by 1.3 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

Meanwhile, more established immigrants saw their average hourly wages increase by 6.3 per cent.

Canadian-born workers’ wages have risen six per cent over that period.