U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell opened the Jackson Hole economic symposium Friday with a speech hinting that the current pace of monetary tightening is appropriate. Powell noted that there are no signs showing that inflation will speed up past the 2% target, meaning the U.S. economy should not overheat. These remarks suggest that two additional key rate increases will follow this year, one in October and one in December.
NAFTA negotiations continued in Washington over the weekend and we appear to be on the verge of an agreement between Mexico and the United States. Removing this stumbling block will allow discussions with Canada to begin anew.
The economic agenda will be packed this week, with the release of GDP data on both sides of the border. Our economists believe that growth in Canada sped up in the second quarter.
Stock markets continue to surge this morning, further to the record high seen in the S&P500 Index on Friday. The loonie‘s trend will be dictated by how trade negotiations unfold.
Mark Donohue
Range of the day: 1.3000 – 1.3110