12:09 PM EDT, 06/03/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Toronto Stock Exchange is up 25 points at midday, with the energy and utilities sectors leading gains.

BMO in its morning note, noted: No major data out in Canada today. Yesterday, the joint statement from the First Ministers Meeting in Saskatoon reiterated the need to fast-track infrastructure projects and remove internal trade barriers.

Scotiabank in its morning note said OECD forecasts are making headlines, because they forecast so infrequently. The downgrades to global growth are relative to its interim projections in March before 'Liberation Day' and to the main projections every six months. The biggest downgrade was to the U.S.

Globally speaking, the OECD "took a knife" to its world real GDP growth projection for the year to +2.9% (from +3.3%), which would be a haircut from +3.3% in 2024; the U.S. growth forecast was cut quite a bit to +1.6% from +2.8% last year (and compares to the +2.2% March prediction), notes Rosenberg Research. The OECD didn't stop there but also trimmed 2026 to +1.5% from +1.6%. "So much for tariffs and the big, beautiful bill creating the conditions for economic improvement," the research said.

Yesterday, National Bank said, S&P Global provided a snapshot on state of the global manufacturing sectors, including Canada. It said the good news is that 15 out of 25 countries saw their indices improve as global trade tensions eased between April and May. However, factory activity continued to contract in 18 out of 25 countries (below 50 print). National Bank noted Canada finds itself in both situations, with its index rising from 45.3 to 46.1, still well below the 50 mark that separates expansion from contraction. It said the most troubling aspect of this data is that Canada ranks last among the countries covered by S&P Global. "After experiencing strong demand from its US customers prior to the imposition of tariffs, this sector was bound to experience a slowdown thereafter. There is reason to be worried in the medium term as well, given repeated threats from the US administration on Canadian factories."

National Bank said it eagerly awaits the May services index, which will be released tomorrow. In April, this index was also the lowest among all countries covered (at 41.5), reflecting the widespread weakness of the Canadian economy amid the current tariff uncertainty.