Here are five things you need to know this morning:
Another big decision in America: The U.S. Federal Reserve is expected to reduce its benchmark policy rate by at least a quarter of a percentage point today. While there’s a very slight chance of a larger cut, caution is likely to be the order of the day given the tumultuous change that has been witnessed in Washington this week. One of the investor reactions to Donald Trump’s sweeping electoral victory on Tuesday evening is a repricing of expectations for rates. Investors now think inflation is likely to remain a bit stickier than previously thought, which could compel the Fed to bring down lending rates a little more slowly or perhaps not quite as far as previously anticipated, given the underlying strength.
Canada orders TikTok to close subsidiary: Canada’s federal government has ordered ByteDance to shut down its Canadian operating subsidiary, TikTok Technology Canada. Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne says the move is due to national security concerns from the user data being potentially accessed by the Chinese-owned company. While the move to shutter the Canadian operating unit is symbolically significant, it has no bearing on whether or not Canadians will be able to download and use the app.
Canadian Tire hikes dividend: Retailer Canadian Tire posted a bigger than expected quarterly profit today. Revenue at the retailer declined by 1.4 per cent to $4.2 billion, but adjusted net income rose to $200.6 million, up from $165 million last year. The retailer says sales trends are improving from previous slowing. The retailer boosted its dividend by 1.4 per cent.
Manulife earnings beat: Manulife Financial Corp. says it earned $1.84 billion in the third quarter of this year, up from $1.01 billion a year ago. The company attributed the strong showing to its Asia business, where revenue grew to almost one third of the company’s total. Earnings per share came in at $1. That’s almost twice the 52 cents posted last year.
Moderna shares jump on strong earnings: Shares in Moderna are up sharply in the premarket after the vaccine maker revealed stronger than expected quarterly earnings. Revenue came in at US$1.86 billion for the quarter, an increase of 1.7 per cent. The company cited strong demand for its COVID-19 vaccine for the uptick, as the revenue figure came in much higher than the $1.2 billion analysts were forecasting.