Despite the improvement in risk appetite and better-than-expected data from Canada, the Loonie joined its comdoll homies in the losers’ bench yesterday. It was unable to pare the losses it incurred during the Tokyo and London trading session and USD/CAD closed 18 pips above its opening price at 1.0281.
Data on housing starts for September showed an increase of 206,000 which topped the 187,000 forecast.
But don’t lose hope! If risk appetite continues to linger in the markets today, we may just see the Loonie post a win against the dollar!
Parity’s not so far away anymore! The Loonie chalked up major gains against the dollar, pushing USD/CAD down from 1.0281 to 1.0173 as risk appetite spurred demand for the comdoll. Will the Loonie put up another big win today?
The markets’ healthy risk appetite saw a very strong demand for the Loonie and its comdoll brothers yesterday. With Slovakian lawmakers reaching a deal regarding the EFSF changes, it appears that investors have summoned the courage to take on riskier assets.
In other news, the New Housing Price Index (NHPI), which measures the change in the selling prices of new homes, hardly had an impact on the markets. It came in as expected, showing a 0.1% rise, just as it did the month before.
Today, we have trade balance data on tap at 12:30 pm GMT. Survey says we’ll probably see Canada’s trade deficit widen from 0.8 billion CAD to 0.9 billion CAD. Look for the Loonie to rise even further if we see better-than-expected results. Good luck, kids!
The Loonie lost ground to the Greenback yesterday, with USD/CAD closing 23 pips up from its 1.0173 open price. The pair even reached a high of 1.0273 during the London session before retreating. Read on to find out what’s in store for the Loonie today.
Weak economic data from Canada, combined with mixed developments in the euro zone, forced the Loonie to give way to U.S. dollar strength yesterday. Canada’s trade balance came in better than expected but their deficit still widened from 0.5 billion CAD to 0.6 billion CAD for August. However, components of the report showed that both imports and exports improved during the month as demand picked up in the Canadian economy. Still good news, eh?
Canada won’t be releasing any economic data today so keep an eye out for any changes in risk sentiment. Stay on your toes at all times!
Thanks to the wide-reaching case of risk appetite, the Loonie was one of the best performing currencies last Friday. The comdoll rose a solid 90 pips versus the safe haven dollar and 108 pips against the low-yielding yen.
The positive mood of the market was strengthened further by the better-than-expected manufacturing sales report from Canada. It showed an increase of 1.4%, almost three times the predicted rise.
This week, we’ve got a couple of economic reports that we need to keep tabs on.
Today, the Foreign Securities Purchases report (12:30 pm GMT) and the BOC Business Outlook (2:30 pm GMT) will be released. The Foreign Securities Purchases report is expected to show a surplus of 9.23 billion CAD.
Then, on Friday, pay attention to the to the country’s consumer price index. The market expects a 0.1% rise, down from last month’s 0.3% increase. For the core version of the report that excludes the prices of volatile items such as gasoline, the market predicts a 0.2% rise.
After it looked like the Canadian dollar was gonna hit parity versus the Greenback, risk aversion propped up the Loonie to boost it from its lows. USD/CAD bottomed out at 1.0043 before zooming up to close at 1.0222, booking a 106-pip gain on the day. Boomshakalaka!
While risk aversion was the main driver of trading yesterday, data released from Canada didn’t provide any support either.
Demand for Canadian financial assets was lower during the month of August, as investors bought 7.92 billion CAD worth, down from the revised 12.13 billion CAD in July. This was also below consensus of 9.23 billion CAD. While this indicates that demand for Canadian assets is still strong, it does show that it did dip, probably as a result of some risk aversion we saw a couple months back.
In other news, the Bank of Canada’s business outlook survey showed that a dimmer outlook for the U.S. economy is weighing down the sales expectations of local business managers. Remember, the U.S. is Canada’s largest trading partner, so whenever the U.S. stops its shopaholic ways, Canadian business take a hit.
No biggies on the docket for today, so watch out for swings in risk sentiment, as this was the major driver of price action yesterday. Let’s see if the Canadian dollar can get back on track!
Ka-pow! Take that, dollar! Thanks to the pick-up in risk appetite, the Loonie was able to pare some of the losses it incurred on Monday during yesterday’s trading. USD/CAD dropped from its intraday high of 1.0265 to close the day 78 pips below its opening price at 1.0144.
Positive earnings reports from companies and better-than-expected data from the U.S. allowed the Loonie to rally. So with that said, make sure you head on over to my USD commentary and read up on what’s on tap for the dollar today! Who knows, positive U.S. reports may just spark risk appetite again.
Aside from that, don’t forget to keep tabs on Canada’s leading index for September which is due later at 12:30 pm GMT. It is anticipated to come in at 0.2%, but be wary. The report has missed expectations for the past three months. Good luck!
Not so fast, Loonie bulls! Just when we thought that the Canadian dollar is good for another trip up the charts, we saw the Greenback take back the crown as the king of the pips. USD/CAD only reached an intraday low of 1.0085 before it went up and closed 57 pips higher than its open price.
It didn’t help that Canada’s leading index printed a tad bit lower than its previous reading. The data clocked in a 0.1% decline in September when markets had expected a 0.2% growth. Not only that, we also saw risk aversion grip the markets yesterday when conflicting rumors from the euro zone sent investors towards the low-yielding currencies.
Let’s see if Canada’s wholesale sales report at 12:30 pm GMT will provide the Loonie any relief today. The report is expected to come in at 0.5% in August after rising by 0.8% in July, but a higher figure might give the Loonie bulls a boost. Also keep an eye out for any significant price action in oil, as any sharp movement might affect Canada, one of the world’s biggest oil exporters.
Victooorrry! Despite yesterday’s very volatile trading, the Loonie was able to hustle some muscle towards the end of the New York session. USD/CAD closed 52 pips below its opening price at 1.0149.
It seems like all eyes are on the EU Summit this coming weekend. From what I’ve heard, optimism surged during the London session that a comprehensive plan would be announced. But as I mentioned in my EUR commentary, market sentiment turned sour towards the latter part of the day as Germany said that it could postpone the summit. So keep an ear out for updates about the meeting, ayt?
But aside from keeping tabs on market sentiment, also be on your toes for the inflation reports we have from Canada. At 11:00 am GMT, the headline CPI figure for September is anticipated to come in at 0.1%. Meanwhile, excluding volatile items, the core CPI is seen to print a 0.2% uptick.
The Loonie received a lot of loving last Friday as risk appetite made a strong comeback. By the end of the U.S. trading session, USD/CAD, which started the day at 1.0151, was found sitting pretty 66 pips lower at 1.0085. Good job Loonie bulls!
Positive data from Canada also provided support for the Loonie. The country’s CPI showed an increase of 0.2%, slightly higher than the 0.1% rise initially expected. At the same time, the core version of the report showed a surprising 0.5% rise, more than double the expected figure. The unexpected uptick stoked interest rate hike speculations.
The Loonie has been indeed pretty strong but with the 1.0050 major support level coming up, will we see the USD/CAD bulls start fighting back? It all depends on the results of the economic data this week.
Tomorrow, at 12:30 pm GMT, Canada will publish its retail sales report. The market is expecting a 0.4% increase, which is a significant improvement from the flat reading seen the previous month.
Then, at 1:00 pm GMT, the Bank of Canada (BOC) will announce its decision on interest rates. It is widely predicted that the BOC will keep rates unchanged at 1.00% so focus will probably turn to the accompanying statement. Given the strong CPI figure, we could see the BOC become a little more bullish this time, which could trigger another Loonie rally.
The Loonie locked in a 3-day winning streak against the Greenback as USD/CAD closed just 30 pips above parity yesterday. This marked a 67-pip drop from its 1.0097 open price. With several big events on Canada’s schedule today, can the Loonie keep up its rally?
Canada didn’t release any economic figures yesterday, possibly because it was gearing up for the happenings today. The fun starts at 12:30 pm GMT when Canada will release its retail sales figures for August. Both core and headline figures are expecting a 0.4% increase, which would be an improvement over the dismal July figures. At that time, core retail sales remained flat while the headline figure showed a 0.6% decline. A strong rebound could give the Loonie a boost enough to take USD/CAD to parity and beyond!
But the action does not stop there! The main event, which is the BOC rate decision, is scheduled at 1:00 pm GMT today. Although the central bank is expected to keep rates on hold at 1.00%, their accompanying statement could contain clues on their future monetary policy moves. Recall that BOC Governor Mark Carney and his men weren’t exactly optimistic during their previous rate statement, but recent data from Canada could turn those frowns upside down. Upbeat remarks could mean more gains for the Loonie but if they stick with their downbeat tone, USD/CAD could move farther from parity.
No thanks to a very dovish Bank of Canada (BOC), the Loonie took a major hit across the board yesterday as it tumbled against other major currencies. By the end of the U.S. trading session, the Loonie had already given up 109 to the yen and 130 pips to the dollar.
In its statement, the BOC said that it decided to keep rates unchanged because there are still a lot of downside risks present with regard to economic recovery. In addition to that, the central bank stated that it expects some nations in the euro zone to plunge back into recession as concerns on their debt levels persist. The tone of the BOC this time around was certainly more dovish, which gave traders reason to believe that interest rates probably won’t go anywhere any time soon.
Looking at Canada’s economic calendar, the only report due is the BOC monetary policy report. It will be published at 2:30 pm GMT and will give us some insight to the central bank’s outlook on inflation, growth, and probably interest rates. Stay tuned for that!
Forget interest rate talks, risk sentiment trading is back in vogue! Despite the BOC repeating its dovish tone yesterday, USD/CAD reached an intraday low of 1.0042 before leveling off 112 pips lower than its open price.
In its monetary policy report yesterday, the BOC maintained that while it doesn’t expect the Canadian economy to dip into a recession, it is still concerned about the troubles in the euro zone and U.S. economies and its impact on the local economy.
Good thing that traders had their focus shifted on risk sentiment! A concrete agreement is yet to be reached in the meetings happening in the euro region, but investors kept their hopes up and continued buying high-yielding currencies anyway.
No economic report will be released from Canada today, so keep a close eye on the developments in those euro-related meetings! Who knows, maybe risk sentiment will be driving the Loonie’s price action for a second consecutive day!
Now that’s how you execute a 1-2 punch! The Loonie followed up its awesome performance on Wednesday with an equally impressive 135-pip rally against the Greenback. In the end, the USD/CAD closed below parity at .9913. Booyeah!
With risk appetite in full swing, the Loonie had an easy time on the charts. Boosted by a rise in oil prices, it maintained a steady pace throughout the day. It climbed from the moment the Tokyo session opened and it didn’t stop until the New York session closed!
Though Canada won’t be releasing any reports again today, we could see more action from the Loonie. This current risk-on environment is conducive to comdoll rallies, so you may want to stay alert for opportunities to buy it up again. That means look for retracements and breaks of key levels! Good luck, kids!
Are the Loonie bulls done with their partying? After its 135-pip rally on Thursday, USD/CAD reached an intraday high of .9971 and even capped the day with a 7-pip gain. What’s up with that?
A bit of profit-taking, that’s what. As it turned out, the lack of new economic reports from Canada and the euro region didn’t motivate traders into continuing the Loonie rally and even inspired some traders to take profit on their long trades.
Will the bulls be back in action this week? Canada will kick off the week with no less than a GDP report at 12:30 pm GMT. The data is expected to slip to a 0.2% growth in August after growing by 0.3% in July, but an upside surprise might spur the currency bulls into pushing USD/CAD lower. Meanwhile, the raw materials price index and the change in the price of goods sold by manufacturers will also be released at 12:30 pm GMT.
For the rest of the week the dust will settle in Canada with its lack of economic reports, at least until Friday when its employment numbers are released at 11:00 am GMT, followed by the building permits numbers at 12:30 pm GMT, and IVEY PMI reports are released at 2:00 pm GMT.
Don’t even think of missing these big reports!
Talk about ending the month on a sour note! After putting up some serious winners last week, the Canadian dollar reversed directions and recorded a big 89-pip slide against the Greenback. Is this a sign of things to come?
With risk appetite waning, the Canadian dollar ended the day lower in spite of positive data. GDP growth hit 0.3% in August, which is slightly weaker than the previous month’s 0.4% expansion, but is still better than the 0.2% increase that most were expecting to see.
As with all economic reports, the August GDP data had its dark clouds and silver linings. The nitty-gritty details of the report reveal that growth was seen in the energy, finance and insurance, retail trade, and construction sectors. On the other hand, industries such as wholesale trade, manufacturing, utilities, and some tourism-related industries contracted during the month.
In other news, the raw materials price index (RMPI) came in above forecast to post a 1.4% increase in prices instead of a 2.3% decline as expected. Led by higher crude oil prices, the RMPI was finally able to break its four-month streak of negative figures.
No more reports coming from Canada today. In the meantime, be sure to monitor risk sentiment! If risk appetite doesn’t pick up soon, the Canadian dollar may find itself losing more pips!
And just like that, USD/CAD is now 200 pips above parity! Market players sought out safe havens yesterday, leaving higher yielding currencies like the Canadian dollar out to dry. Will USD/CAD continue to climb up the charts or could a midweek reversal be in play?
With no major data coming out from Canada yesterday, USD/CAD followed the beat of risk sentiment. Clearly, it was risk off, as the Loonie rose 200 pips. The combination of poor Chinese PMI figures and the Greeks putting the new debt deal to a vote has spooked the markets, sending people to park their moolah in safe haven currencies.
No hardcore data coming out from Canada today, so we can probably expect risk sentiment to once again drive the Loonie. Be careful out there and always remember to keep those stop loss orders in check!
Take that, Greenback! After two consecutive days of losing to the U.S. dollar, the Loonie was able to retaliate and end with a win yesterday. USD/CAD reached a low of 1.0106 before closing at 1.0136, nearly 70 pips down from its 1.0203 open price. Can the Loonie hold on to its recent gains and go for more?
Although Canada didn’t release any economic data yesterday, the Loonie was able to jump back to life as oil prices rebounded. Some say that this was a result of improved risk appetite spurred by better than expected U.S. ADP figures, but I doubt whether this rally would last. Ongoing troubles in the euro zone are still hogging the spotlight and, if we hear of more downbeat reports from the region, the Loonie might be forced to return its recent gains.
There aren’t any economic reports due from Canada today, which means that USD/CAD could be at the mercy of risk sentiment. Bear in mind that there are a bunch of red flags on today’s schedule so make sure you read the rest of my economic roundup!
For the second day in a row, the Loonie tacked on gains against the dollar on a surge in risk appetite from improvements in the euro region. USD/CAD only went up to an intraday high of 1.0217 before it closed with a 67-pip loss at 1.0069.
No economic reports were released from Canada yesterday, but the currency bulls got a boost when the Greek government decided to scratch the referendum on the European leaders’ debt deal. If you want to know more about it, why don’t you head on to the EUR write-up I wrote earlier?
Anyway, if you missed watching economic reports pop out of Canada, then you’re in for a treat today!
At 11:00 am GMT Canada will release its employment figures like the unemployment change and the unemployment rate. Both figures are expected to worsen from their previous readings, but an upside surprise could give the Loonie a boost.
At 12:30 pm GMT we’ll also get hold of Canada’s building permits for September and the report is expected to print better than its August figure. Lastly, we’ll see the IVEY PMI report at 2:00 pm GMT.
Hope you catch some pips with the Loonie today!
Tsk, tsk. Little did the Loonie bulls know that they would end Friday’s trading in losers-ville. USD/CAD opened at what would be its intraday low at 1.0068 and closed the week at 1.0188.
Then again, with the much-anticipated jobs report from Canada printing so much worse than expected, I guess it wasn’t much of a surprise to see the Loonie get sold off. The employment change report for October showed a 54,000 decline and disappointed expectations which was for an increase of 16,300. The negative figure then translated to an uptick in the unemployment rate to 7.3% from 7.2% in September.
To top off the negative vibes, the Ivey PMI index for October disappointed market expectations and came in at 54.4. Analysts were anticipating it to print at 55.7.
Our forex calendar is blank for reports from Canada today. It might be a good idea to keep tabs on market sentiment. Keep an ear out for news from Greece as these could cause volatility in today’s trading. Good luck!
One step at a time, Loonie! The Canadian currency was able to erase some of its losses from last Friday as it gained 52 pips against the Greenback. Will it continue chipping away at its losses today?
It might! That is if the Canadian housing starts report prints green figures. Due at 1:15 pm GMT, stats for October are expected to show an annualized number of housing starts amounting to 198,000, down from the previous month’s reading of 208,000. If this baby prints below expectations, it could just undo the Loonie’s recent gains.
On a side note, it’s interesting to see that USD/CAD is within striking range of parity again. As a matter of fact, it’s just a little over 100 pips away at the moment. Keep an eye out for this key level, homies! This has been a solid support and resistance area in the past, so it could very well serve as a turning point again.