BoC: An important week ahead – RBC

According to analysts at Royal bank of Canada, next week brings some key Canadian data that might determine whether the Bank of Canada follows the Fed in adopting a more dovish stance.

Key Quotes 

“The BoC’s Business Outlook Survey is an important input into BoC decision-making. The latest edition will garner even more attention than usual given a further escalation in global trade tensions since April’s survey.”

“Just ahead of the BOS, April’s GDP report will give insight into whether softer business sentiment is finding its way into activity indicators. March’s GDP figures showed plenty of resilience with nearly every sector growing in the month. April should be a bit more mixed with manufacturing output expected to be flat. That sector will be a focal point in the coming months given a slowdown in industrial production globally (including in the US) that could intensify with recent tariff hikes.”

“Retail sale volumes edged down 0.2% in April though other services industries should pick up some of the slack. On balance we look for GDP to edge up by 0.1% in April, which following March’s more robust gain, should leave Q2 growth tracking a solid 2% annualized rate.”