Analysts at National Bank Financial (NBF) say the highlight of the week will be the central bank’s monetary policy meeting in the U.S.

• “Heading into their communication blackout period, the message from Fed spokespersons was that both the economy and the target range for the fed funds rate were in a good place. This situation has not changed much judging from the findings of the latest Beige Book. The latter suggested that the U.S. economy as a whole continued to expand modestly from October through mid-November, an impression reinforced by recent purchasing manager surveys.
• As such, barring unfavourable developments on the trade front in the coming days, we doubt the Fed 2020 central tendency GDP growth projection will be significantly altered, allowing the FOMC to remain “watchfully waiting” as Cleveland Fed president Loretta Mester put it. Our base case scenario remains for the target range to be left unchanged at 1.50 to 1.75%.”