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Canada Strengthens Investment Incentives to Drive Economic Growth, BMO Says

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Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney announced new measures at the country's first investment summit to spur investment, enhance productivity and bolster the domestic economy amid continuing uncertainty over trade relations with the United States, according to BMO Capital Markets in a note Tuesday.

The package features a new "Productivity Mega Deduction" that would allow businesses to immediately expense up to two-thirds of capital investments, lowering Canada's marginal effective tax rate on new investment to one of the lowest levels in the G7 at about 6.4% from 13%, wrote BMO.

The government also intends to speed up approvals for major projects through the Build Canada Strong Act, targeting a "one project, one review, one year" process, while strengthening tax certainty to encourage large-scale investment, said the bank.

"The investment tax changes announced today are the clearest signal to date that the Government of Canada is focused on pushing the economy forward beyond the ongoing trade uncertainty," wrote BMO Senior Economists Robert Kavcic and Shelly Kaushik.

Canada aims to attract CA$1 trillion in total investment over the next five years.

Canada's resource wealth, stable political environment, sound fiscal position, highly skilled workforce and resilient financial sector position the country well to attract long-term capital, added BMO.

The investment pipeline is already sizeable, with about CA$500 billion worth of projects underway or planned across energy, infrastructure, critical minerals, transportation and manufacturing sectors.

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International

Taiwan's Regular Earnings of All Employees Rise 3.32% in July

Taiwan's average regular earnings of all employees rose 3.32% year on year in July to NT$49,491, according to data released by the Directorate General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics on Monday.The average regular earnings of all employees include full-time employees with Taiwan nationality, part-time employees and industrial migrant workers.The total number of payroll employees increased by 87,000 from the previous year to 8.6 million at the end of July.The average regular earnings of full-time employees with Taiwan nationality increased by 3.67% year on year to NT$52,528 in July.From January to July, the average monthly regular earnings for all employees was NT$49,054, higher by 2.9% from a year earlier.

Taiwan Weighted
International

China's Retail Sales Growth Slows to 0.4% in August

China's retail sales of consumer goods grew 0.4% year over year to 3.982 trillion yuan in August, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Tuesday.The pace of growth was softer than the 0.6% expansion recorded in the previous month. It missed the consensus forecast of 0.7% growth tracked by Investing.com.Sales in urban areas rose 0.2% year over year to 3.446 trillion yuan, while rural retail sales edged up 1.6% to 536.7 billion yuan.For the first eight months of the year, retail sales in China rose 1.1% year over year to 32.8 trillion yuan, easing from the 1.2% growth in the January-July period.

Shanghai Composite^SZSE
International

Australia's Total Spending Rises in August Due to Higher Essential Costs, NAB Says

Australia's total spending rose 1.1% in August due to higher essential costs rather than heightened demand, according to NAB's Consumer Spend Trend released on Tuesday.Total spending climbed 8.7% over the year, while monthly growth was 0.6%, excluding fuel.The report pointed to increasing pressure on households, with the end of the temporary fuel excise discount, combined with higher fuel prices, NAB Head of Australian Economics Gareth Spence said.Non-discretionary spending was up 2.2% in August, driven by a 12% jump in fuel and a 3.2% rise in utilities and telecoms.Meanwhile, discretionary spending was still growing, but momentum had slowed, Spence said.Discretionary spending rose 0.4%, with household goods broadly flat and personal goods down 0.2%.

ASX 200