Canada Consumer Prices Unexpectedly Accelerates on Gasoline Prices

The Canadian consumer price index rose more than expected to 0.7% in February after falling 0.3% in the previous month as gasoline prices rose during the month. The annual rate of inflation increased to 1.4% from 1.1%, despite economists predicted prices growth slow to only 1%.


[B]Fundamental Headlines[/B]
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[B]USDCAD[/B] – The Canadian consumer price index rose more than expected to 0.7% in February after falling 0.3% in the previous month as gasoline prices rose during the month. The annual rate of inflation increased to 1.4% from 1.1%, despite economists predicted prices growth slow to only 1%. Meanwhile, core CPI held steady at 1.9%, which may ease pressure on the Bank of Canada to take additional measures to stem the recession. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the USD/CAD Forum.

[B]GBPUSD[/B] – Public-sector borrowing in the U.K. came in worse than expected as the budget deficit rose to 9.0 billion Pound in February, which was higher than the 8.3 billion Pound projected by economist, while net borrowing for January was revised to -2.6B from an initial reading of 3.3B. The data suggests that the budget deficit for the U.K. will widen over the coming months as policymakers raise fiscal objectives to steer the economy out of a deepening recession, and will be an ongoing concern for the Treasury as tax revenues falter. Discuss the topic and your trade ideas in the GBP/USD Forum.

[B]CHFUSD[/B] – Switzerland exports plunged 3.7% after advanced 7.3% in January, while the imports rose 2.1% from the previous month, which lower the trade surplus to 0.73 billion Swiss Francs from a revised reading of 1.99 billion in previous month. Meanwhile, the ZEW investor confidence rose slightly to -57.1 from -57.7 in February, marking its fifth consecutive increase as the policy makers continued to step up their effort to stave-off a severe downturn in the economy. Amid the minor improvement in sentiment, economic activity throughout the region is likely to deteriorate further as the government lowered their growth forecasts as they expect the annual rate of growth to contract 2.2% this year, which has fallen considerably from the initial estimate for a 0.8% drop in GDP. For more news and resources, visit the new Swiss franc Currency Room.