Indicators released in recent days have been quite encouraging. We learned on Friday that Canada had created some 40,000 jobs in March, a sharp reversal of the trend seen in the first months of 2016 when the country totalled 8,000 jobs lost. In further good news, Statistics Canada estimates that 35,300 of the jobs created were full-time positions. The loonie was quick to seize on the renewed vigour in the Canadian job market to gain ground against the greenback. It also helped that Friday was particularly favourable on energy markets, with crude oil closing out the week just shy of $40 a barrel, which is where it continues to trade this morning.
In Asia, we learned over the weekend that Chinese inflation stood at 2.3% in March, reassuring many investors about the performance of the world’s second largest economy. Chinese stocks are up 1.8% this morning.
