North American indexes are rising this morning as the expected announcement from Greece and positive US economic data buoy optimism that growth in the global economy will continue to gain traction. Greece announced an additional 4.8 billion euro in spending cuts and tax increases as the country tries to reign in its deficit and garner support from the European Union. The US economy lost the fewest number of jobs in two years in February according to the ADP poll, while the ISM non-manufacturing index expanded at a faster pace that even the most optimistic forecasts. Commodity prices are climbing on the news. Royal Bank bucked the recent trend of positive earnings announcements as it missed average forecasts on continuing losses at its US operations. That said, profits still rose 35% from year ago levels. The TSX is up 45 pts. The Dow is up 52 pts.
The Canadian dollar is climbing again amid the good news and as the market speculates interest rates may rise sooner rather than later. The Loonie is up 65 bps to US$.9713. Bond yields are on the rise, with the 5-year Canada up to 2.62% and the 10-year to 3.45%. Gold is up $3.30 to US$1140.70/oz. Oil is up 57 cents to US$80.25/barrel.
