HIGHLIGHTS OF THE WEEK – April 15
United States
- With little news on the data front throughout the first half of the week, markets focused much of their attention on the release of the March FOMC minutes and President Obama’s 2014 budget proposal.
- The Fed minutes revealed a growing consensus among participants that a tapering of the $85 billion/ month in asset purchases should happen sometime this year. However, what still remains largely unclear is at what point this year the tapering should begin and to what extent it will occur.
- On the fiscal front, the key elements of the Obama administrations 2014 budget proposal include $580B of additional revenues, $610B in spending cuts, and $620B in entitlement reform over the course of the next ten years.
Canada
- Canadian housing starts edged up to 184,000 units in March from an upwardly revised 183,000 units in February. Despite the slight uptick in overall starts, this week’s reading puts new housing construction at almost 30% below the level recorded in April 2012.
- The ongoing moderation in new home construction has been widely expected given the strong pace of building that took place last year.
- The Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook reaffirmed the theme of only modest growth this year, but optimism can be taken from the outlook portion of the survey which pointed to a pick up in sales – albeit at a moderate pace – based on improving U.S. demand which is consistent with out forecast.
- Looking ahead to next week, the Bank of Canada will release its Monetary Policy Report on Wednesday, April 17. The Bank is expected to hold its overnight rate unchanged at 1.00%.
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
