IAIC Market Update - July 5, 2021
Last Week in the Markets: June 25th - July 2nd, 2021
(source: Bloomberg https://www.bloomberg.com/markets, MSCI https://www.msci.com/end-of-day-data-search and ARG Inc. analysis)
What happened last week?
- North American equities did reasonably well last week as the first half of 2021 has concluded. The U.S. major indices gained between 1 and 2% in five days of trading, and the TSX lost only 4 points, which is essentially flat for the week. The observance of Canada Day on Thursday had markets here closed, while the U.S. markets will be closed for Independence Day on Monday, July 5th.
- The major news regarding economic recovery centred on American jobs. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced that 850,000 jobs were added in June. More than one-third of the additional gains were from the hospitality industry, where wide-spread reopening has occurred. The sector has 13% less jobs than prior to the pandemic indicating that more gains can still be made.
- Unfortunately, nearly 7 million less people are employed than in February 2020, with a total of 9.5 million unemployed persons and the unemployment rate at 5.9%. Significant room exists for rapid economic expansion and jobs growth to regain former levels of productivity with 4 million Americans experiencing long-term unemployment of 27 weeks or more. (Source)
- In Canada labour force participation has grown faster than in the U.S., which has caused the unemployment rate to seem higher. The unemployment rate is making steady progress by falling to 9.8% from 10.2%, which is significant because labor force participation (the number of people working and seeking employment) is rising.
What’s ahead for this week?
- In Canada, the Bank of Canada’s Business Outlook Survey for the second quarter and June’s employment report will be released. In May, Canada lost 68,000 jobs, the expectation is a gain of 138,000 jobs and unemployment to fall 0.4% from May’s figures.
- In the U.S., Meeting minutes from the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee will be released along with wholesale inventories, consumer credit and job openings and labor turnover for May.
- Globally, Eurozone retail sales, Japan household spending, China’s foreign reserves and foreign direct investment, consumer and producer price indices and money supply. On Friday G20 Finance Ministers will conduct a meeting in Venice.
For more information contact:
Independent Accountants’ Investment Counsel Inc.
135 Main St. E. Listowel, ON
Phone: 519-291-2817 or TF: 1-877-291-3040
icpmss@iaic.ca
This report is produced by Independent Accountants' Investment Counsel Inc (“IAIC”) in conjunction with ARG Inc. All graph and chart statistical data contained in this report has been supplied by ARG Inc. The views and opinions expressed in this report are based on market statistics. No guarantee of outcome is implied and opinions may change without notice. Investors should not base any of their investment decisions solely on this report nor should any opinions expressed within this report be construed as a solicitation or offer to buy or sell any securities mentioned herein. Although the information contained in this report has been obtained from sources that IAIC believes to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy, and as such, the information may be incomplete or condensed. All opinions, estimates and other information included in this report constitute our judgment as of the date hereof and are subject to change without notice.
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