Compiled by MarketsFarm
WINNIPEG, May 3 (MarketsFarm) – The following is a glance at the news moving markets in Canada and globally.
- Analysts said they expect the United States Federal Reserve to up its key interest rates by 25 basis points on Wednesday. The Fed is scheduled to make it announcement at 1 pm CDT, with indications the central bank will raise its rates to five and 5.25 per cent – their highest levels since 2007. Analysts also suspect this could be the last interest rate hike by the Fed for the time being. As with numerous other central banks around the world, the Fed has been using rate increases as a means to combat inflation, trying to reduce it to two per cent. However, critics reiterated that strategy has left the U.S. economy in a vulnerable position.
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By Glen Hallick Glacier Farm Media | MarketsFarm – The following is a glance at the news moving markets…
- The banking sector in the U.S. has continued to struggle following the rescue of the failed First Republic Bank by JPMorgan Chase & Co. on Monday. A report stated on Wednesday that shares in the California-based PacWest Bancorp lost 28 per cent of their value in recent days, with those in the Arizona-based Western Alliance falling 15 per cent. Some analysts blame the Federal Reserve’s fixation on interest rate increases, alleging those played a role in the demise of the Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank and First Republic.
- Loblaws Companies Ltd. reported on Wednesday that it made a profit of C$418 million dollars in the first quarter of 2023. With that, Loblaws said it has increased the amount it will pay on its shares from 40.5 cents to 44.6 cents. The supermarket and drug store chain has been under severe criticism after giving its now former president and CEO Galen Weston a 55 per cent pay increase to C$8.4 million per year, as well as allegations of gouging consumers.
