The Bank of Canada became the first G7 country to cut interest rates yesterday, setting the stage for the European Central Bank to lower rates too. All eyes are on President Christine Lagarde as traders ponder: what comes next?
Attention turns to Friday’s non-farm payrolls report, a crucial indicator that could either dampen or reinforce expectations of policy easing ahead of next week’s Federal Reserve meeting. The Fed’s dot plot and officials’ comments are expected to be in the spotlight.
In the commodities market, oil prices extended their gains from the previous session on Thursday, fueled by growing anticipation of a Federal Reserve rate cut in September. However, this rally was tempered by higher U.S. inventories and an OPEC+ plan to increase supply.
On Wall Street, NVIDIA surpassed a $3 trillion valuation for the first time on Wednesday, overtaking Apple to become the second-most valuable company, trailing behind Microsoft. NVIDIA’s valuation surge comes on the back of a remarkable 147% increase this year.
