The Bank of Canada today held its target for the overnight rate at 5%, with the Bank Rate at 5¼% and the deposit rate at 5%. The Bank is continuing its policy of quantitative tightening.
Global economic growth slowed in the fourth quarter. US GDP growth also slowed but remained surprisingly robust and broad-based, with solid contributions from consumption and exports. Euro area economic growth was flat at the end of the year after contracting in the third quarter. Inflation in the United States and the euro area continued to ease. Bond yields have increased since January while corporate credit spreads have narrowed. Equity markets have risen sharply. Global oil prices are slightly higher than what was assumed in the January Monetary Policy Report (MPR).
In Canada, the economy grew in the fourth quarter by more than expected, although the pace remained weak and below potential. Real GDP expanded by 1% after contracting 0.5% in the third quarter. Consumption was up a modest 1%, and final domestic demand contracted with a large decline in business investment. A strong increase in exports boosted growth. Employment continues to grow more slowly than the population, and there are now some signs that wage pressures may be easing. Overall, the data point to an economy in modest excess supply.
CPI inflation eased to 2.9% in January, as goods price inflation moderated further. Shelter price inflation remains elevated and is the biggest contributor to inflation. Underlying inflationary pressures persist: year-over-year and three-month measures of core inflation are in the 3% to 3.5% range, and the share of CPI components growing above 3% declined but is still above the historical average. The Bank continues to expect inflation to remain close to 3% during the first half of this year before gradually easing.
Governing Council decided to hold the policy rate at 5% and to continue to normalize the Bank’s balance sheet. The Council is still concerned about risks to the outlook for inflation, particularly the persistence in underlying inflation. Governing Council wants to see further and sustained easing in core inflation and continues to focus on the balance between demand and supply in the economy, inflation expectations, wage growth, and corporate pricing behaviour. The Bank remains resolute in its commitment to restoring price stability for Canadians.
PerpetualDiscounts now yield 6.70%, equivalent to 8.71% interest at the standard equivalency factor of 1.3x. Long corporates yielded 5.03% on 2024-3-5 and since then the closing price has changed from 15.24 to 15.29, an increase of 33bp with a duration (BMO doesn’t specify Macaulay or Modified; I will assume Modified) of 12.43, which implies a decrease in yield of 3bp, to 5.00%. Therefore, the pre-tax interest-equivalent spread (in this context, the “Seniority Spread”) has widened to 370bp from the 360bp reported February 21.
HIMIPref™ Preferred Indices These values reflect the December 2008 revision of the HIMIPref™ Indices Values are provisional and are finalized monthly |
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Index | Mean Current Yield (at bid) |
Median YTW |
Median Average Trading Value |
Median Mod Dur (YTW) |
Issues | Day’s Perf. | Index Value |
Ratchet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0812 % | 2,352.8 |
FixedFloater | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0812 % | 4,512.7 |
Floater | 10.23 % | 10.56 % | 42,559 | 8.99 | 1 | 0.0812 % | 2,600.7 |
OpRet | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.2536 % | 3,391.9 |
SplitShare | 4.96 % | 7.50 % | 45,084 | 1.87 | 7 | -0.2536 % | 4,050.6 |
Interest-Bearing | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | -0.2536 % | 3,160.5 |
Perpetual-Premium | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.0428 % | 2,640.1 |
Perpetual-Discount | 6.51 % | 6.70 % | 47,338 | 12.87 | 31 | 0.0428 % | 2,878.9 |
FixedReset Disc | 5.45 % | 7.21 % | 111,306 | 12.25 | 59 | 0.3955 % | 2,424.1 |
Insurance Straight | 6.35 % | 6.54 % | 60,562 | 13.23 | 22 | -0.0325 % | 2,829.6 |
FloatingReset | 9.95 % | 10.12 % | 33,376 | 9.38 | 3 | -0.2630 % | 2,601.4 |
FixedReset Prem | 7.01 % | 7.00 % | 157,943 | 12.35 | 1 | 0.0000 % | 2,490.5 |
FixedReset Bank Non | 0.00 % | 0.00 % | 0 | 0.00 | 0 | 0.3955 % | 2,477.9 |
FixedReset Ins Non | 5.54 % | 7.37 % | 77,096 | 12.34 | 14 | -0.8322 % | 2,565.0 |
Performance Highlights | |||
Issue | Index | Change | Notes |
TD.PF.E | FixedReset Disc | -12.71 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 18.55 Evaluated at bid price : 18.55 Bid-YTW : 8.28 % |
IAF.PR.B | Insurance Straight | -6.71 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.01 Evaluated at bid price : 20.01 Bid-YTW : 5.76 % |
SLF.PR.H | FixedReset Ins Non | -5.33 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 17.75 Evaluated at bid price : 17.75 Bid-YTW : 7.43 % |
IFC.PR.A | FixedReset Ins Non | -4.83 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 17.94 Evaluated at bid price : 17.94 Bid-YTW : 7.37 % |
SLF.PR.G | FixedReset Ins Non | -1.76 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 14.50 Evaluated at bid price : 14.50 Bid-YTW : 8.13 % |
PVS.PR.J | SplitShare | -1.54 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2028-02-29 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 22.40 Bid-YTW : 7.50 % |
FTS.PR.F | Perpetual-Discount | -1.51 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 19.51 Evaluated at bid price : 19.51 Bid-YTW : 6.33 % |
GWO.PR.N | FixedReset Ins Non | -1.43 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 13.75 Evaluated at bid price : 13.75 Bid-YTW : 8.16 % |
BN.PF.J | FixedReset Disc | -1.20 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.50 Evaluated at bid price : 20.50 Bid-YTW : 8.18 % |
NA.PR.S | FixedReset Disc | -1.20 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.44 Evaluated at bid price : 21.44 Bid-YTW : 7.04 % |
CU.PR.J | Perpetual-Discount | -1.15 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 17.99 Evaluated at bid price : 17.99 Bid-YTW : 6.66 % |
BN.PF.G | FixedReset Disc | -1.10 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 17.16 Evaluated at bid price : 17.16 Bid-YTW : 9.06 % |
GWO.PR.T | Insurance Straight | -1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 19.19 Evaluated at bid price : 19.19 Bid-YTW : 6.73 % |
PVS.PR.I | SplitShare | -1.08 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Hard Maturity Maturity Date : 2025-10-31 Maturity Price : 25.00 Evaluated at bid price : 23.86 Bid-YTW : 7.77 % |
FTS.PR.M | FixedReset Disc | -1.07 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 18.55 Evaluated at bid price : 18.55 Bid-YTW : 8.11 % |
BN.PF.H | FixedReset Disc | 1.02 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.42 Evaluated at bid price : 21.75 Bid-YTW : 8.63 % |
CU.PR.C | FixedReset Disc | 1.05 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 19.20 Evaluated at bid price : 19.20 Bid-YTW : 7.62 % |
BIP.PR.A | FixedReset Disc | 1.10 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 18.35 Evaluated at bid price : 18.35 Bid-YTW : 9.34 % |
IFC.PR.F | Insurance Straight | 1.24 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.35 Evaluated at bid price : 20.35 Bid-YTW : 6.66 % |
RY.PR.M | FixedReset Disc | 1.27 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.70 Evaluated at bid price : 20.70 Bid-YTW : 7.11 % |
TD.PF.D | FixedReset Disc | 1.37 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.45 Evaluated at bid price : 21.45 Bid-YTW : 7.16 % |
POW.PR.A | Perpetual-Discount | 1.43 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.30 Evaluated at bid price : 21.30 Bid-YTW : 6.70 % |
CM.PR.P | FixedReset Disc | 1.45 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.95 Evaluated at bid price : 20.95 Bid-YTW : 6.86 % |
BMO.PR.T | FixedReset Disc | 1.60 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.76 Evaluated at bid price : 22.20 Bid-YTW : 6.53 % |
GWO.PR.Y | Insurance Straight | 1.73 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 17.60 Evaluated at bid price : 17.60 Bid-YTW : 6.41 % |
GWO.PR.S | Insurance Straight | 1.74 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 19.89 Evaluated at bid price : 19.89 Bid-YTW : 6.62 % |
BN.PF.I | FixedReset Disc | 1.75 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 20.36 Evaluated at bid price : 20.36 Bid-YTW : 8.72 % |
TD.PF.C | FixedReset Disc | 2.00 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.37 Evaluated at bid price : 21.37 Bid-YTW : 6.77 % |
GWO.PR.G | Insurance Straight | 2.83 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 19.97 Evaluated at bid price : 19.97 Bid-YTW : 6.53 % |
BMO.PR.W | FixedReset Disc | 3.12 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.50 Evaluated at bid price : 21.50 Bid-YTW : 6.71 % |
BMO.PR.S | FixedReset Disc | 7.94 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 22.67 Evaluated at bid price : 23.80 Bid-YTW : 6.19 % |
TD.PF.A | FixedReset Disc | 10.98 % | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 22.10 Evaluated at bid price : 22.75 Bid-YTW : 6.35 % |
Volume Highlights | |||
Issue | Index | Shares Traded |
Notes |
MFC.PR.I | FixedReset Ins Non | 66,016 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.75 Evaluated at bid price : 22.05 Bid-YTW : 7.19 % |
CU.PR.I | FixedReset Disc | 54,400 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 22.17 Evaluated at bid price : 22.50 Bid-YTW : 7.76 % |
TD.PF.L | FixedReset Disc | 42,800 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 23.95 Evaluated at bid price : 24.89 Bid-YTW : 6.93 % |
BMO.PR.T | FixedReset Disc | 39,591 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 21.76 Evaluated at bid price : 22.20 Bid-YTW : 6.53 % |
MFC.PR.F | FixedReset Ins Non | 34,600 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 14.60 Evaluated at bid price : 14.60 Bid-YTW : 7.84 % |
BN.PF.B | FixedReset Disc | 32,940 | YTW SCENARIO Maturity Type : Limit Maturity Maturity Date : 2054-03-06 Maturity Price : 19.70 Evaluated at bid price : 19.70 Bid-YTW : 8.06 % |
There were 14 other index-included issues trading in excess of 10,000 shares. |
Wide Spread Highlights | ||
Issue | Index | Quote Data and Yield Notes |
BMO.PR.T | FixedReset Disc | Quote: 22.20 – 24.75 Spot Rate : 2.5500 Average : 1.4525 YTW SCENARIO |
CU.PR.E | Perpetual-Discount | Quote: 18.95 – 20.70 Spot Rate : 1.7500 Average : 1.1108 YTW SCENARIO |
IAF.PR.B | Insurance Straight | Quote: 20.01 – 21.70 Spot Rate : 1.6900 Average : 1.0880 YTW SCENARIO |
SLF.PR.H | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 17.75 – 19.20 Spot Rate : 1.4500 Average : 1.0921 YTW SCENARIO |
IFC.PR.A | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 17.94 – 18.99 Spot Rate : 1.0500 Average : 0.7191 YTW SCENARIO |
IFC.PR.C | FixedReset Ins Non | Quote: 19.38 – 20.15 Spot Rate : 0.7700 Average : 0.5060 YTW SCENARIO |
AQN.PR.D To Reset To 6.853%
Tuesday, March 5th, 2024Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. has announced:
AQN.PR.D was issued as a FixedReset, 5.00%+328, that commenced trading 2014-3-5 after being announced 2014-2-24. The extension was announced 2019-2-26 and the reset to 5.091% effective March 31, 2019 was announced 2019-3-1. I recommended against conversion and there was no conversion. Notice of extension was issued in 2024. The issue is tracked by HIMIPref™ but relegated to the Scraps-FixedReset (Discount) subindex on credit concerns.
Thanks to Assiduous Readers niagara and xalier for bringing this to my attention!
Posted in Issue Comments | 1 Comment »