- Bank of Canada rate decision – 06/12 – not expecting any changes to monetary policy here with the central bank forecast to keep rates unchanged at 5%. The last 3-months have seen no growth in the economy at all while the October jobs report saw a rise of 17.5k jobs, all of these were part time positions. On full time employment we saw the first decline in jobs growth since May with a decline of -3.3k, while unemployment rose from 5.5% to 5.7% and the highest level since January 2021. We're also starting to see inflationary pressure continue to subside with core CPI on the median slipping from 3.9% to 3.6% in October.
- Balfour Beatty Q3 23 – 07/12 – has struggled for gains this year even as the shares hit their highest levels since June 2008 back in May this year. In |August the shares took a bit of a tumble despite reporting a 9% rise in H1 revenue to £4.5bn, and an increase in underlying pre-tax profit to £97m. The weakness appeared to have been driven by concerns over the order book which declined again in Q2 and is now £1bn lower than it was at the end of last year at £16.4bn. We also saw lower margins in support services weighing on profitability, along with disappointment that full year guidance was left unchanged. The cancellation of Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 also haven't helped given that Balfour Beatty is a key contractor there as well, although this is likely to be offset with the company getting a slice of any east-west road and rail links improvements across the Pennines
