Spotlight on the Bank of Canada today
Commodity linked currencies such as the loonie are up this morning. While speaking at a London conference yesterday, OPEC’s Secretary General reiterated that a production agreement would no doubt be reached with Russia. WTI crude oil is up close to 1% as we await U.S. Crude Oil Inventories this morning at 10:30 a.m.
Chinese Gross Domestic Product figures posted this morning showed Q3 growth of 6.7%, in-line with economists’ expectations. Industrial Production came in slightly below the target however, with growth of 6.1% (vs. the forecast 6.4%).
The Bank of Canada (BoC) will announce its key rate decision at 10 a.m., followed by a press conference to discuss the contents of its Monetary Policy Report at 11:15 a.m. Recent conciliatory comments from the BoC have generated doubt as to where Canadian interest rates are headed.
Nevertheless, we believe that the BoC will keep its benchmark rate at 0.50% and will want to avoid a substantial increase in the loonie.
