Fed rate, Canadian GDP numbers coming this week

Federal Reserve Building — © jjgervasi / Thinkstock

A rate announcement from the Federal Reserve and Canadian GDP numbers top the economic news to look for in the coming week.

The Fed is expected to raise its target federal funds rate for the third time this year on Wednesday.

“A rate hike is all but priced in by markets at this point,” a report from National Bank says. “It remains to be seen whether the Committee will change the characterization of its policy stance by dropping the word ‘accommodative’ from its statement.”

After three hikes in 2017, the Fed raised rates again in March and June, bring the range to 1.75%-2%. Two more hikes, including the one this week, are widely expected before the end of the year.

National Bank also said it expects the Fed to revise up its 2018 GDP forecast slightly.

Canadian GDP numbers coming Friday

CIBC is calling for flat July GDP numbers in a week ahead report. Senior economist Royce Mendes expects that oil production outages offset growth from other sectors.

National Bank is forecasting GDP to grow by 0.1%, with strong manufacturing and utilities numbers offset by weak housing starts and retail sales.

A rise in underlying inflation measures reported last week raised expectations for another interest rate hike from the Bank of Canada.

Read National Bank’s weekly economic watch and CIBC’s week ahead report.