The Globe and Mail reports in its Wednesday edition that a Reuters poll found that analysts see the S&P/TSX Composite Index rallying in the coming year and moving to a record high in 2024 as inflation pressures ease, provided a slowdown in the economy is not too deep. A Reuters dispatch to The Globe reports that over the next six months most analysts expect corporate earnings to worsen as the economy weakens and begins to digest a rapid-fire series of interest rate hikes from the Bank of Canada. Edward Jones's Angelo Kourkafas says, "If the downturn doesn't prove to be severe, equity markets could stabilize even as economic data and earnings underwhelm." The BOC has forecast the economy will grow less than 1 per cent next year after it hiked interest rates to a 14-year high of 3.75 per cent to tackle soaring inflation. Canada's economy is likely to be particularly sensitive to higher rates after households borrowed heavily during the pandemic to participate in a red-hot housing market. Recent data, however, have pointed to a peak in price pressures, while the BOC has opened the door to a slower pace of tightening. If inflation moderates, Mr. Kourkafas says "it will remove the upward pressure on bond yields."