ANALYSTS WATCHING BUDGET FOR IMPACT ON CONSUMERS

Analysts will be paying close attention to Monday’s federal budget, although its impact on the markets has so far been muted. “We’ll be paying attention to any fiscal support to the consumer,” said Philip Petursson, chief investment strategist at Manulife Investment Management. “The lockdowns have taken a bit of a toll on confidence and, in order to have a good recovery ... there will need to be some kind of support.” Investor optimism that the pandemic’s gloom will soon lift pushed Canada’s main stock index and two of three indexes in the United States to record closes on Friday. “We’ve had a good week of economic data that for the most part has been a surprise to the upside, whether it be the regional manufacturing data, whether it’s the retail sales.”