AM 1150 Kelowna - Radio Rallies & Reversals

Global stock markets had a strong week last week, as better than expected reports on employment, manufacturing, retail sales, and home sales, eased concern that the economic recovery is faltering. For the week, the TSX Composite index was up 2.2%, the S&P 500 was up 3.7%, the Russell 2000 was up 4.3%, and the EAFE index was up 4%. Year-to-date however, global stock indexes are down, with the exception of the TSX Composite and the DAX. Now despite the recent gains, volumes have been light, so it will be interesting to see how markets behave now that summer holidays are over and market players are coming back to work.

For this week, watch for the Beige Book report in the US tomorrow, and the Bank of Canada rate announcement tomorrow as well. On Thursday, watch for housing starts, new home price index, and merchandise trade balance numbers in Canada, followed by employment data on Friday.

GB