Five things to watch for in the Canadian business world in the coming week:
Markets
It is the last full week of trading for 2023 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. It has been a volatile year for the Canadian market, but a rally that began at the end of October has the S&P/TSX composite on track to eke out a gain for the year.
Inflation
Statistics Canada will release its latest reading on inflation Tuesday morning when it publishes its consumer price index for November. The annual inflation rate slowed to 3.1 per cent in October as the price of gasoline fell compared with a year earlier when gas prices spiked after an OPEC production cut.
Bank of Canada deliberations
The Bank of Canada will publish Wednesday its summary of monetary policy deliberations for its latest interest rate decision. The central bank decided to keep its key interest rate target on hold at five per cent earlier this month, but said it was still concerned about risks to the outlook for inflation and that it was prepared to raise rates if needed.
BlackBerry results
BlackBerry Ltd. will release its results for its third quarter on Wednesday. The results come after the company announced last week the promotion of John Giamatteo to chief executive and called off plans for an initial public offering of its Internet of Things business. The Waterloo, Ont-based technology company did not say why it is abandoning plans for an IPO, but said it is still going ahead with plans to split its cybersecurity unit from its Internet of Things division.
Other economic data
Statistics Canada will release its retail sales figures for October on Thursday followed by gross domestic product figures for October on Friday. The agency's preliminary estimate for real GDP released last month suggested the economy grew by 0.2 per cent in October, following a 0.1 per cent increase in September.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 17, 2023.
Companies in this story: (TSX:BB)
The Canadian Press
