{"id":64837,"date":"2026-07-15T10:08:17","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:08:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bank-of-canada-holds-rates-steady-amid-global-trade-and-energy-uncertainty\/64837\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T10:08:17","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T14:08:17","slug":"bank-of-canada-holds-rates-steady-amid-global-trade-and-energy-uncertainty","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/bank-of-canada-holds-rates-steady-amid-global-trade-and-energy-uncertainty\/64837\/","title":{"rendered":"Bank of Canada Holds Rates Steady Amid Global Trade and Energy Uncertainty"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Bank of Canada (BoC)<\/strong> maintains its key policy rate at <strong>2.25%<\/strong>, matching economist expectations and extending a hold streak that began in late 2025.<\/li>\n<li><strong>BOC Monetary Policy Report (MPR)<\/strong> significantly lowers 2026 growth forecasts to <strong>0.7%<\/strong> (down from <strong>1.2%<\/strong> in April) while projecting a rebound to <strong>1.8%<\/strong> in 2027.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Alibaba (<a href=\"\/stock\/BABA\">BABA<\/a>)<\/strong> shares surged <strong>5.7%<\/strong> following reports that its <strong>Qwen AI<\/strong> model will be integrated into <strong>Apple (<a href=\"\/stock\/AAPL\">AAPL<\/a>)<\/strong> Intelligence services in China.<\/li>\n<li><strong>U.S. Markets<\/strong> opened higher on Wednesday, with the <strong>Nasdaq<\/strong> gaining <strong>0.58%<\/strong> as technology and software stocks led a broader market recovery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Bank of Canada Navigates Sluggish Growth and Inflation Risks<\/h2>\n<p>The <strong>Bank of Canada<\/strong> elected to keep its target for the overnight rate at <strong>2.25%<\/strong> on Wednesday, citing a &quot;wait-and-see&quot; approach amidst a complex global landscape. The decision comes as <strong>headline inflation<\/strong> recently breached the Bank&#39;s <strong>3%<\/strong> upper target, hitting <strong>3.2%<\/strong> in May, primarily driven by volatile energy prices linked to Middle East tensions. Despite this, the Bank noted that underlying inflation remains near the <strong>2%<\/strong> target, allowing policymakers to maintain current levels.<\/p>\n<p>The Bank&#39;s July <strong>Monetary Policy Report (MPR)<\/strong> highlighted a stark revision to the domestic outlook. Economic growth for 2026 is now seen at just <strong>0.7%<\/strong>, a sharp decline from the <strong>1.2%<\/strong> projected in April. This stagnation is attributed to several factors, including a decline in government spending and a drop in oil and gas investment. However, the BoC anticipates a <strong>&quot;rebound&quot;<\/strong> in the second half of the year, with <strong>Q2 GDP<\/strong> estimated at an annualized <strong>2.5%<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<h2>Global Trade and Energy Assumptions<\/h2>\n<p>The BoC\u2019s outlook remains heavily dependent on geopolitical stability and trade continuity. The MPR assumes the <strong>USMCA<\/strong> trade deal will remain intact with annual reviews and expects shipping through the <strong>Hormuz Strait<\/strong> to gradually return to normal. Furthermore, the Bank assumes the price of <strong>Brent crude<\/strong> will decline to approximately <strong>$70<\/strong> by the end of 2027, though it cautioned that the outlook for oil remains <em>highly uncertain<\/em>.<\/p>\n<h2>Tech Sector Boost: Alibaba and Apple Partner in China<\/h2>\n<p>In the technology sector, <strong>Alibaba (<a href=\"\/stock\/BABA\">BABA<\/a>)<\/strong> saw its U.S.-listed shares climb <strong>5.7%<\/strong> after confirming its <strong>Qwen AI<\/strong> model has been cleared by Chinese regulators for integration into <strong>Apple (<a href=\"\/stock\/AAPL\">AAPL<\/a>)<\/strong> devices. This partnership is a critical step for Apple to launch its &quot;Apple Intelligence&quot; suite in the Chinese market, where local regulations require the use of domestic AI models. The agreement also reportedly involves <strong>Baidu (<a href=\"\/stock\/BIDU\">BIDU<\/a>)<\/strong>, positioning Alibaba and Baidu as the primary AI infrastructure providers for Apple&#39;s ecosystem in mainland China.<\/p>\n<h2>U.S. Market Performance and Legislative Developments<\/h2>\n<p>Wall Street opened in positive territory on Wednesday morning. The <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/dowjones\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Dow Jones Today\">Dow Jones<\/a> Industrial Average<\/strong> rose <strong>35.27 points (0.07%)<\/strong> to <strong>52,543.54<\/strong>, while the <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/sp500\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a><\/strong> gained <strong>0.37%<\/strong> to reach <strong>7,571.87<\/strong>. The <strong>Nasdaq Composite<\/strong> outperformed its peers, jumping <strong>152.15 points (0.58%)<\/strong> to <strong>26,259.15<\/strong>, fueled by a recovery in software and AI-related equities.<\/p>\n<p>On the legislative front, <strong>House Republicans<\/strong> unveiled a <strong>$95 billion<\/strong> reconciliation package framework. The proposal reportedly focuses on defense spending and border security, including <strong>$70 billion<\/strong> in funding for agencies such as <strong>ICE<\/strong> and <strong>CBP<\/strong>. This move aims to bypass traditional appropriations processes to fast-track GOP spending priorities before the upcoming recess.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Bank of Canada (BoC) maintains its key policy rate at 2.25%, matching economist expectations and extending a hold [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[4222,4223,4945,6115,6307,6517,7359,11363,20476],"class_list":["post-64837","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-interest-rates","tag-inflation","tag-monetary-policy","tag-alibaba-baba-stock-baba","tag-boc","tag-apple-aapl-stock-aapl","tag-bank-of-canada","tag-mpr","tag-usdcad"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64837","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64837"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64837\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64837"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64837"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64837"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}