Weekly "Focus" and a November to Remember

Just a couple hours to go before the markets close off the month and so far, we have witnessed strong stock market gains in November and now throughout the year:

 

	Price Return in November	Price Return 2024
Canada – S&P TSX Composite	+5.7%	+21.8%
US - S&P 500	+5.1%	+25.8%

Source: FactSet, Values as of November 28, 2024

 

The markets have been moving this year on the back of lower interest rates, and the 3-month Government of Canada yield is now lower in yield by over 1.5% over the past 12 months, sitting around 3.4% (i). The downward move in yields is showing up in GIC rates; the 1-year GIC rate is down about 2% from its peak of last Fall.

 

Then there is the major political event that took place with the election of Donald Trump to a second term as President, matching only Grover Cleveland for winning a second term after losing a re-election campaign. Now one should expect a fair amount of disruption over the next four years and Canada and Mexico felt it already this week with President Trump’s intention to slap a 25% tariff on goods from the two countries. The Canadian dollar took an immediate hit, trading around 71 cents to the US dollar, the lowest level of the year.

 

And finally let’s not forget today is Black Friday, the biggest shopping day of the year – hoping you find bargains in-store or online!

 

This week’s "Focus" from our economics team is attached.

 

Have a great weekend,

 

Brad

Senior Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Advisor