Canadian stock sales plunge to lowest level since 1998 – The Globe and Mail

In a concerning sign for Canadian economic growth, the combined value of new stock sales by Canadian companies in the third quarter of 2024 fell 74 percent year-over-year — from $6.8 billion in Q3 2023 to just $1.8 billion, the lowest quarterly figure in more than 25 years. Some industry players cite continued elevated interest rates as one factor behind the muted stock market activity. Now, as the Bank of Canada has begun cutting those rates, many expect equity markets to rebound.

Jeremy Fraiberg, Co-Chair of Osler’s Mergers and Acquisitions Group, tells The Globe and Mail that though M&A activity has also been down so far this year, he expects the interest rate cuts to reinvigorate that area of the economy.

“This could really be an inflection point,” he says. “The market still seems a little weird, but the fundamentals and the pipeline of deals that need to get done all suggest that there should be more robust activity to come. It is somewhat surprising that it hasn’t hit quite yet.”

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