Morning Briefing: Equities mixed on data, Commodities rise

Equities mixed on data, Commodities rise... Almost half of Canadians live paycheck to paycheck...

Steve Randall
Equities mixed on data, Commodities rise
World equity markets are still trying to second guess the Fed following the release of its Beige Book in the previous session. Its hawkish tones follow weak data on jobs and manufacturing and analysts are broadly expecting a hold on interest rates when the US central bank meets later this month.

Meanwhile, oil and gold prices are rising on a weaker greenback and the lower expectation of interest rates. Oil was up almost 2 per cent overnight ahead of US inventory data later.

Asian indexes closed mostly higher with Sydney and Tokyo ending the session lower.

European markets are awaiting the latest ECB interest rate decision. Although the bank is unlikely to change rates, it is expected to announce an extension of its bond-buying program. The press conference starts at 8.30am ET.

Wall Street and Toronto are expected to open slightly higher. Canada’s house price index is released.
 
  Latest 1 month ago 1 year ago
 
North America (previous session)
US Dow Jones 18,526.14 (-0.06 per cent) -0.09 per cent +15.05 per cent
TSX Composite 14,796.75 (-0.11 per cent) +0.28 per cent +8.55 per cent
 
Europe (at 4.30am ET)
UK FTSE 6,882.18 (+0.52 per cent) +1.07 per cent +11.98 per cent
German DAX 10,741.78 (-0.10 per cent) +2.97 per cent +4.58 per cent
 
Asia (at close)
China CSI 300 3,339.56 (-0.04 per cent) +3.26 per cent +0.17 per cent
Japan Nikkei 16,958.77 (-0.32 per cent) +1.85 per cent -2.69 per cent
 
Other Data (at 2.30am ET)
Oil (Brent) Oil (WTI) Gold Can. Dollar
48.83
(+1.77 per cent)
46.39
(+1.96 per cent)
1352.40
(+0.24 per cent)
U$0.7779
 
Aus. Dollar
U$0.7725

 
Almost half of Canadians live paycheck to paycheck
Canadian households are under pressure and a new survey shows that for almost half, they would find it hard to cover bills if their paycheck was a week late.

The Canadian Payroll Association’s report shows that a third of respondents feel overwhelmed by their debts to some degree while 9 per cent strongly agree with that.

However, almost half said that their debt had not increased in the past 12 months while almost a third said it had.

Of those with debt (93 per cent) a quarter have a residential mortgage on their main home with 4 per cent having a loan for a business or rental property and 16 per cent having a line of credit.

 

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