The chair of the economics department at StFX says recent government initiatives on both sides of the border have helped steady the stock markets.
Greg Tkacz says, overall, COVID-19 has led to a 30 per cent decline in the Toronto Stock Exchange since it peaked in February.
Tkacz tells The Hawk government officials- in our country and the US- acted rapidly to help both households and employers and stem any losses.
“The US government came up with a $2.2 trillion package, so the markets jumped on that right away, and same thing with Canada- they announced some significant stimulus packages to help offset the negative impact of the virus,” he says. “In the short run, it looks like the markets are holding up.”
Tkacz says long-term investors still shouldn’t worry.
He says he agrees with financial advisors who tell their clients not to look at their portfolios on a daily basis.
“Oh definitely- I mean, right now it’s very hard to try to do that, because it could be fluctuating plus-or-minus 1,000 points on a daily basis,” he says. “This just reflects news that comes in.”
Tkacz says the markets will react as soon as there is evidence the spread of the virus is slowing down.
He says it seems social distancing and other measures that have been implemented are having the desired impact of flattening the curve, which is positive news for markets.
