Highlights of the Week – December 4/17

United States
• The prospect of corporate tax cuts led both the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 to record highs this week, with financial stocks outperforming substantially.
• Economic data was supportive, with third quarter real GDP being revised up to 3.3% annualized, as business investment came in stronger than initially thought.
• Incoming Fed Chairman Jerome Powell stated that “conditions are supportive” of a December rate hike, and we expect the Fed to proceed with one, followed by two more in 2018.

Canada
• The Canadian economy created a whopping 80k jobs in November, pushing the unemployment rate down to 5.9% – the lowest level in nearly a decade.
• Economic growth came in largely as expected in the third quarter at 1.7% annualized. While this is a marked deceleration from the prior quarter, it signals a return to a more sustainable pace of growth.
• OPEC and its allies agreed to extend production cuts until the end of 2018 – a timeframe the group expects will allow the global oil market to balance.

For further information, please contact:

John Maveety Manager, Residential Mortgages – Greater Ottawa Area TD Canada Trust
T: (613) 371-1984 F: (888) 899-1984 P: (866) 767-5446
[email protected]