The U.S. economy saw the biggest quarterly plunge in activity ever, though the plummet in the second quarter wasn’t as bad as feared. Gross domestic product from April to June plunged 32.9% on an annualized basis, according to the Commerce Department’s first reading on the data released Thursday. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones had been looking for a drop of 34.7%.Still, it was the worst drop ever, with the closest previously coming in mid-1921.
While jobless claims rose for the second week in a row, stocks dropped on the GDP news plus waiting the quarterly earnings from some of the biggest tech companies, Apple, Amazon, Alphabet and Facebook all report after the regular markets close.
The Canadian dollar is weaker on the back of the U.S. GDP numbers, oil prices fell below $40 USD a barrel WTI, dropping over 3.3% on the day.
Volatile today.
Currently Close Range
USDCAD 1.3435 1.3340 1.3334-1.3460
EURCAD 1.5848 1.5730 1.5706-1.5866
GBPCAD 1.7528 1.7337 1.7316-1.7583
Prior Actual
US: Gross Dom Product Q2/20 -5.0% -32.9%
Jobless Claims wk7/25 1,416K 1,434K
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