The National Bank of Canada

Economic CommentaryNosediving crude prices were front and centre again yesterday, with a drop of more than 5% during the trading day. WTI is currently trading below U.S. $45/barrel, at its lowest...

Energy markets were on a familiar course again last week, as the price of WTI crude fell for a seventh consecutive week. Diesel and gasoline, which have reached levels not seen since 2009, are...

Last Friday, December jobs figures were released in both Canada and the United States. On our side of the border, 4,300 jobs were lost over the month, well short of the forecast gain of 15,000....

During the night, the release of greater-than-expected negative inflation figures in Europe for December (-0.2% vs. -0.1%) drove the euro to lower levels than the loonie with respect to the greenback....

After having risen by 13% in 2014, the USD Dollar Index (DXY) is forecasted to increase by only 3.5% in 2015, according to a Bloomberg survey unveiled this morning that polled a dozen analysts.•...

The U.S. dollar just had its best year since 1997 after appreciating nearly 9% in trade-weighted terms. The end of QE by the Fed clearly helped, but so did a further loosening of monetary policy into...

December saw the loonie drop by close to 500 bps against the greenback! One of the factors that led to this correction was the very good performance of the U.S. economy, which in Q3 of 2014 recorded...

Looking back, 2014 proved to be a particularly difficult period for energy prices, which posted their deepest annual correction since the financial crisis of 2008. Prices for WTI and Brent crude fell...

That appears to be the message investors are taking away from yesterday afternoon's Fed statement and press conference by Chair Janet Yellen. If economic conditions allow, the Fed says that it is,...

The Fed will be front and centre today, with the release of its key rate decision at 2 p.m. Once again, markets do not anticipate a rate hike, with Fed Chair Janet Yellen holding steady at 0.25%....

It appears that emerging markets are destined to end the year as they started, down sharply due to energy market dealings and global growth. Stock indexes, bonds and currencies have all pointed in the...

Another week has passed, with energy markets following the same trajectory: the price of WTI crude fell for the 10th time in 11 weeks. In the week ended December 12, WTI crude slumped another 8%....

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe won a little over two thirds of the seats in the lower house in elections held over the weekend. The Prime Minister's coalition now has enough seats to put forward...

Our screens were full of red yesterday, as the major stock markets continued to fall. WTI dropped by 4% and the S&PTSX fell by 2.4%. Since November 21, the pullback for Toronto’s exchange...

Yesterday, the yen, the price of gold and U.S. bonds all posted gains because of economic concerns in China and political uncertainty in Greece. The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) experienced its worst...

Yesterday was especially difficult for stock markets, as the S&P TSX 60 (PARIS:TSX) and the S&P 500 both fell 2.3% and 0.73% respectively. The slide continues this morning, with big drops...