Daily Pulse
One of our most accessible tools, this daily comment keeps you abreast of developments on the North American and international financial markets.
Michel Doucet
Vice-President and
Portfolio Manager
October 6, 2025
Canada
OPEC+ agreed to a modest increase in its November oil production, adding 137,000 barrels a day next month. The decision comes as oil prices traded near a four-month low, with the market in surplus and signs that the market is starting to shift. The group's production hikes have demonstrated the limitations to spare capacity available across the OPEC+ alliance, with key members only restoring about 60% of a scheduled supply tranche.
United States
The White House is holding off from layoffs at least until today, economic adviser Kevin Hassett told CNN, to see if Democrats cave when the Senate is due to vote on a stopgap bill.Unions representing hundreds of thousands of federal workers asked a federal judge to immediately block any mass firings.
Bitcoin set another all-time high as a broader risk rally around the US government shutdown buoyed the world’s largest cryptocurrency. The token climbed to as high as $125,689 on Sunday in Asia, topping its previous record set on Aug. 14, supported by the uptick in US equities and renewed inflows into Bitcoin-linked exchange-traded funds. Investors have speculated that the shutdown, which kicked in on Wednesday, will drive investors to safe-haven assets in what market participants have begun to call the “debasement trade.”
Europe
Hamas agreed to release the last of the hostages from its 2023 attack on Israel, but said the rest of a US peace plan would be subject to negotiation. President Donald Trump responded favorably to the Hamas statement and called on Israel to stop its bombing campaign, saying discussions were underway on “details to be worked out”. The Israeli prime minister's office said it was preparing to “immediately implement the first phase of Trump’s plan for the immediate release of all hostages”, but the statement was different from ones Hamas has made in the past. Israel and Hamas are set to begin mediated negotiations on Monday aimed at ending a two-year conflict that’s devastated Gaza and destabilized the Middle East.
French Premier Sebastien Lecornu resigned just a day after President Emmanuel Macron named a new government retaining most senior members from previous cabinets. French bonds and the benchmark CAC 40 plunged.
Asia
Sanae Takaichi is on track to become Japan’s first female prime minister after being elected as the leader of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. Takaichi will face the task of trying to reunite the ruling party, regain public support, and reengage with a younger generation of voters who are flocking to smaller populist parties. A victory for Takaichi in the parliamentary vote later this month would mark the emergence of Japan’s first female premier, which could represent a watershed moment for a country that has seen limited progress on gender equality.
Nvidia Corp.’s major server production partner Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. reported 11% growth in quarterly sales, signaling healthy demand for AI infrastructure