HEADLINES

Bank of Canada Keeps Policy Rate Unchanged Amid Signs of Economic Recovery

The Bank of Canada left its main interest rate unchanged on Wednesday at 2.25% as it presented what Gov. Tiff Macklem called a "fairly positive" outlook for an economy that has stagnated under the weight of U.S. trade policy and conflict in the Middle East.

Alongside its rate decision, the central bank offered an updated outlook which predicts growth to ramp up markedly in the second quarter and remain in positive territory through 2028. This marks a turnaround after the economy contracted in three of the last four quarters that prompted talk about a recession.

The level of Canada's gross domestic product, as of the first quarter, is largely unchanged from early 2025, reflecting struggles to adapt to hefty U.S. tariffs on key industrial sectors, and heightened business uncertainty about the future of trading ties with Washington.

"When we talk to businesses, what we're hearing is they're adapting to this uncertainty," Macklem said at a press conference after officials left the central bank's main interest rate unchanged for a sixth consecutive policy decision.

Electrovaya Shares Rally on Commercial Relationship With Amazon

Electrovaya's shares surged after the Canadian lithium-ion battery company brought in Amazon as an investor and they struck a commercial agreement.

Shares surged 48.6% at C$16.43.

Electrovaya, which is looking to grow its U.S. business with a planned gigafactory at its existing site in New York, said the relationship with Amazon is expected to support the continued deployment of its battery technology in material handling operations and will potentially expanded engagement on robotics and energy storage.

As part of the agreement between the companies, Amazon will receive warrants to buy up to almost 13.9 million Electrovaya shares. These become fully vested when Amazon achieves cumulative future purchases of $280 million, with a portion of the warrants vesting immediately on the execution of the agreement.

Factory Sales Rose 1.3% to Record in May

Factory sales in Canada reached a record high in May, extending the recovery by the country's manufacturers despite lingering trade concerns that supports a rebound for the economy after recent weakness.

Manufacturing shipments rose 1.3% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted C$78.09 billion, Statistics Canada said. Compared with a year earlier, sales were up 13.4%.

The result, which was slightly stronger than the data agency's advance estimate for monthly growth of 1.1%, marks a fourth straight month of increased sales for manufacturers though the softest pace of the run.

Sales volumes increased by a more modest 0.5% month-over-month and 2.8% from last year, which still points to a tailwind for gross domestic product in May.

Altius Minerals Shares Fall on C$181.5 Million Bought-Deal Stock Offering

Shares of Altius Minerals fell after the company said underwriters agreed to buy 3 million shares at C$60.50 each in a bought-deal offering, with an option for up to 15% more.

The stock fell 15.1% to C$56.05.

Altius said it will use the proceeds of about C$181.5 million to strengthen its balance sheet following several 2026 acquisitions and for general corporate purposes. Together with credit facilities being adjusted and expanded to reflect those acquisitions, the funds are intended to bolster liquidity while maintaining a conservative leverage profile.

The company said the offering is expected to close on or about July 21, subject to conditions including Toronto Stock Exchange approval. The shares will be offered publicly across Canada, except for Québec and Nunavut, by prospectus supplement to a base shelf, and may be offered to qualified institutional buyers in the U.S.

Existing Home Sales Edged Up in June as Market Shows Signs of Recovering

Canada's housing market continues to show signs of recovery, with sales rising modestly last month in what looks set to be a soft year overall for resale activity.

National sales of existing homes edged up 0.5% in June from the month before, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Wednesday.

After a weak start to the year for sales, the latest advance builds on a 5.5% jump in sales in May and a 0.9% rise in April to put nationwide activity roughly 7% above where it stood in March, the association said.

"June's housing numbers continued to build momentum following the late start to the year in May, with virtually every metric moving in the right direction," Shaun Cathcart, CREA's senior economist, said.

Fixed mortgage rates have eased from the recent peak in April, and interest-rate increases from the Bank of Canada look less likely than they did just a month ago, which is positive for prospective buyers, Cathcart said.

Silvercorp Revenue Jumps as Gold Output Rises, Silver Output Falls

Silvercorp Metals logged a jump in revenue in the latest quarter as silver production declined but gold output rose.

The Canadian mining company said revenue was strong in the three months through June, rising 70% on last year to $138 million.

Silvercorp, which is scheduled to release financial results for its fiscal first quarter after markets close Aug. 10, said silver production for the latest period was down 17% from a year ago at 1.5 million ounces. However, gold production was up 24% to 2,536 ounces.

Silver-equivalent production fell 15% year-over-year to 1.7 million ounces.

TALKING POINT

Sagard Passes $1 Billion as It Raises a Third Credit Partners Fund

By Isaac Taylor

Sagard has passed the halfway point in raising over $1 billion in commitments for its third Credit Partners fund, holding a first close for the direct-lending vehicle less than a year after fundraising began.

The fund

The firm's credit group, Sagard Credit Partners, aims to collect $2 billion for the pool, Sagard Credit Partners III. Fundraising for the vehicle started near the end of last year, and a final close is expected before this time next year.

A predecessor fund in the strategy, Sagard Credit Partners II, closed in 2022 with $1.17 billion. Sagard's credit group has since deployed all of that vehicle's committed capital. The Toronto-based group has already begun investing from the new fund, committing $135 million across three deals.

The strategy

The first two funds in the strategy collected capital from third-party investors and didn't rely on debt to boost returns, said Adam Vigna, Sagard's co-founder, managing partner and chief investment officer. He is also the credit group's CIO.

Even though Sagard is largely avoiding the use of third-party debt in deals made through its latest vehicle, the firm is offering certain investors in the new fund a levered sleeve, or a dedicated bucket, to use in deals supplemented by third-party debt as a way to bolster returns.

Sagard Credit Partners expects the average loan-to-value ratio for recipients of financing from the new vehicle to remain around 30% to 35%, similar to the proportions used in deals from the prior fund, according to the firm.

Sagard primarily lends to nonsponsored midsize companies across Canada and the U.S. from the SCP funds. The credit is typically provided through directly originated senior secured financing.

"It takes us, on average, anywhere from four to 16 weeks from start to finish to do our own proprietary due diligence," Vigna said.

The context

The firm gathered the fresh capital following a down year for direct-lending activity generally.

The value of U.S. direct lending transactions fell 11% to $247 billion last year from 2024, industry researcher PitchBook LCD said in December. Toward the end of 2025, concerns about artificial intelligence threatening software businesses spooked many retail investors, triggering a wave of requests to withdraw from evergreen credit funds and to cash in shares of private lending vehicles such as business-development companies.

Despite the slowdown and AI concerns, Sagard's 15-member investment team plans to add to the deals already done from the new vehicle with fresh closings by September, Vigna said.

"The pipeline of opportunities that we have in front of us today is one of the more robust pipelines that we've had since we've begun doing this business," Vigna said.

Fallout from the financial crisis that eased in 2009 forced traditional commercial banks to drastically reduce their U.S. midmarket lending activities. Assets for private-credit funds spiked to $1.52 trillion by 2024 from just over $310 billion at the end of 2010, according to a report from Swiss bank UBS. In 2000, the market consisted of just $44 billion of assets under management, UBS said.

The private-credit industry, after fueling much of its recent growth by marketing to individual investors, has displayed some weakness this year because of concerns that AI could disrupt software businesses. Some credit providers have heavily backed companies in the sector.

Sagard's credit group won't back software businesses from the new fund, Vigna said. And the vehicle has no individual investors.

Sagard manages assets of more than $46 billion and operates through venture capital, private equity and real estate. The firm also has a wealth-management arm.

Write to Isaac Taylor at [isaac.taylor@wsj.com]

Expected Major Events for Thursday

06:00/UK: May Index of production

06:00/UK: May UK trade

06:00/UK: May Index of services

06:00/UK: May Monthly GDP estimates

08:00/ITA: Jun CPI

08:30/UK: Apr Card Spending statistics

09:00/ITA: May Foreign Trade EU

11:30/UK: Jun NIESR Monthly GDP Tracker

12:15/CAN: Jun Housing Starts

12:30/US: Jun Advance Monthly Sales for Retail & Food Services

12:30/US: Jul Philadelphia Fed Business Outlook Survey

12:30/US: 07/11 Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims

12:30/US: U.S. Weekly Export Sales

13:00/RUS: Weekly International Reserves

14:00/US: May Manufacturing & Trade: Inventories & Sales

14:00/US: Jul NAHB Housing Market Index

14:00/US: Jun Pending Home Sales Index

14:30/US: 07/10 EIA Weekly Natural Gas Storage Report

20:30/US: Federal Discount Window Borrowings

20:30/US: Foreign Central Bank Holdings

23:01/UK: Jun Scottish Retail Sales Monitor

All times in GMT. Powered by Onclusive and Dow Jones.

Expected Earnings for Thursday

AMCON Distributing Co (DIT) is expected to report for 3Q.

Abbott Laboratories $(ABT)$ is expected to report $0.96 for 2Q.

Alcoa Corp $(AA)$ is expected to report $2.32 for 2Q.

Ames National Corp $(ATLO)$ is expected to report $0.65 for 2Q.

BancFirst Corp $(BANF)$ is expected to report $1.80 for 2Q.

Bank of South Carolina Corp (BKSC) is expected to report for 2Q.

Bank7 Corp (BSVN,GMAR.XX) is expected to report $1.04 for 2Q.

Cass Information Systems Inc $(CASS)$ is expected to report $0.72 for 2Q.

Citizens Financial Group Inc (CFG) is expected to report $1.24 for 2Q.

Cohen & Steers Inc $(CNS)$ is expected to report $0.87 for 2Q.

FNB Corp $(FNB)$ is expected to report $0.42 for 2Q.

First Financial Bankshares Inc (FFIN) is expected to report $0.51 for 2Q.

GE Aerospace $(GE)$ is expected to report $2.00 for 2Q.

Hingham Institution for Savings $(HIFS)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Independent Bank Corp $(INDB)$ is expected to report $1.78 for 2Q.

Insteel Industries Inc $(IIIN)$ is expected to report $0.29 for 3Q.

Intuitive Surgical Inc $(ISRG)$ is expected to report $2.27 for 2Q.

ManpowerGroup $(MAN)$ is expected to report $0.86 for 2Q.

Netflix Inc $(NFLX)$ is expected to report $0.79 for 2Q.

Oak Valley Bancorp $(OVLY)$ is expected to report for 2Q.

Platinum Group Metals Ltd (PLG,PTM.T) is expected to report for 3Q.

Prologis Inc $(PLD)$ is expected to report $0.78 for 2Q.

Simmons First National Corp - Class A (SFNC) is expected to report $0.52 for 2Q.

State Street Corp $(STT)$ is expected to report $3.30 for 2Q.

US Bancorp $(USB)$ is expected to report $1.28 for 2Q.

UnitedHealth Group Inc $(UNH)$ is expected to report $4.59 for 2Q.

Vizsla Silver Corp (VZLA.T) is expected to report for 4Q.

WaFd Inc $(WAFD)$ is expected to report $0.82 for 3Q.

Westamerica Bancorp $(WABC)$ is expected to report $1.10 for 2Q.

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 15, 2026 16:30 ET (20:30 GMT)

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