The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday edition that the Bank of Canada was not as aggressive as expected on Wednesday, giving hope that the fight against inflation may soon be scaled back. The Globe's Tim Shufelt writes that stock markets globally were imbued with optimism after the announcement on Wednesday, with the S&P 500 index rising by 1.5 per cent by late morning. European stock markets rallied sharply into their closing bells. It was a short-lived rally, as the gains in the U.S. were more or less wiped out by the end of trading. Clearly, it was not the BOC that singlehandedly changed the course of global monetary policy. However, it did show that a major economy was at least slowing the pace of rate hikes. Oanda analyst Edward Moya says: "The [BOC] delivered a clear message that they are getting close to being done with tightening. Wall Street is hoping the Fed will follow the [BOC's] lead." National Bank economist Warren Lovely says: "While this may not be the last hike, it's hopefully the last 'jumbo' tightening the economy is subjected to. The time for policy rate fine-tuning is now upon us." CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson says there is "an increasing belief that a Fed pause is close."