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
September 4, 2025
Canada
Toronto home prices declined again in August as persistent economic uncertainty and a glut of inventory weighed on the market. The benchmark price of a home in Canada’s largest city slipped 0.1% from the previous month to C$978,100 ($709,000), according to seasonally adjusted data released by the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board. It was the ninth consecutive month home prices failed to rise — they began falling in December and have dropped every month since except for May, when they were flat.
-The president of Canada Goose Holdings Inc. said the company isn’t working on a deal to go private, sending the shares down in late afternoon trading on Wednesday.
United States
US job openings fell to a 10-month low in July, underscoring continued labor market weakening. Openings declined to 7.18m from 7.36m. The decline was led by non-cyclical sectors such as education and health services, which had recently been drivers of job growth as cyclical sectors remained subdued. The vacancies-to-unemployment ratio dropped below 1 for the first time since 2021. There are now more unemployed workers than available jobs. Quits held steady at 3.21m, while layoffs ticked up to 1.81m from a revised 1.80m, leaving the quits-layoffs gap, a leading measure of labor slack, roughly unchanged. The report confirms the “low hiring, low firing” regime and aligns with broader indicators showing that while the labor market has not cracked, it is weakening. High-frequency job postings suggest stabilization in August, but consumer surveys indicate jobs are increasingly harder to get, pointing to further slack ahead. A loosening labor market will ease sticky services inflation, offsetting tariff-driven goods pressures.
Donald Trump asked the Supreme Court to uphold his global tariffs, seeking review in a case that may affect trade across the globe. Meanwhile, China started charging levies on additional US optical fiber imports after an investigation found that American companies circumvented anti-dumping measures. Japan's top trade negotiator is visiting the US after progress at staff-level talks.
Europe
Novo Nordisk is testing its newer Ozempic-style drugs' effects on Alzheimer's disease, with trial results due this fall. This came after a team noticed that diabetes patients who used GLP-1 drugs had a lower risk of dementia diagnosis. Analysts estimate a 1 in 10 chance that the company could generate an additional $15 billion in annual sales for Alzheimer's treatment. That would be a much needed boost for the drugmaker, which cut its growth forecast twice this year.
Asia
China’s August PMIs improved, but underlying data point to persistent weakness and limited momentum. The official NBS composite rose to 50.5 from 50.2, with manufacturing still in contraction at 49.4 and services edging higher to 50.3. Private PMIs showed stronger gains, with the composite rising to 51.9 from 50.8, led by both manufacturing (50.5) and services (53.0). Despite these improvements, broader indicators such as wages and home prices show an economy stabilizing at a weak level. Recent stimulus measures have focused on stabilization rather than reflation, leaving China’s path out of deflation narrow, driven by weak demand and excess capacity.