With no economic data on Canada’s schedule, the Loonie simply moved sideways against the U.S. dollar yesterday. USD/CAD opened at .9948, reached a high of .9991, then closed at .9961. Will it be able to find a clearer direction today?
Only the NHPI or new house price index is set for release from Canada today. This report could show that prices of new homes were up by 0.2% in December, following November’s 0.3% increase. A higher than expected figure could provide support for the Loonie since rising house prices spur activity in the housing industry. Keep an eye out for that release at 1:30 pm GMT.
Also, make sure you keep close tabs on risk sentiment today as a couple of central banks are set to make their interest rate decisions. Stay on your toes at all times!
When the Loonie going to make its move? Another day has gone by and the Loonie continues to move sideways. USD/CAD, for instance, barely moved and closed the U.S. trading session at .9955, a mere 6 pips lower from its opening price.
I guess the absence of economic catalysts is preventing traders from trading the Loonie. Yesterday, only the new house price index was released. It came in with a 0.1% gain, slightly lower than the 0.2% increase initially expected.
Hopefully, the trade balance that will be released later today will create a bit of volatility for the currency before the week ends. It is slated to show a 700 million CAD surplus, which is a decrease from the previous month’s 1.1 billion CAD surplus.
Looks like the tight consolidation on USD/CAD’s daily chart finally broke! Unfortunately for the Loonie, it broke upwards. The pair rose by 73 pips last Friday on a broad-based risk aversion that settled in markets amid concerns about Greece. The pair reached an intraday high of 1.0040 before settling in at 1.0028.
Too bad it didn’t help the Loonie that Canada’s trade balance report printed at a better-than-expected figure of 2.78 billion CAD in December. Market players were only hoping for a 0.7 billion CAD figure, you see.
There won’t be any economic report released from Canada today, but sentiments on Greece’s deal might continue to dominate price action so make sure you’re always at the edge of your seats!
Looks like yesterday was a good day to be a Loonie bull! After putting up an ugly performance on Friday, the comdoll was able to erase some of its losses during yesterday’s trading. USD/CAD fell back below parity and ended the day at .9993, down 20 pips on the day.
The Loonie’s rally was spurred, in part, by a rise in oil, which is now back above $100.00. With commodities providing support for the currency, the Loonie had an easy time getting up the charts.
Today, we don’t have any major reports coming out of Canada, so in the meantime, keep your eyes locked on risk sentiment and the commodities markets! Good luck, fellas!
Looks like the Loonie bears jumped on the risk aversion bandwagon yesterday! Poor economic data from Canada and a turn in risk sentiment weighed on the comdoll yesterday, boosting USD/CAD to an intraday high of 1.0028 before it closed at .9995.
As I mentioned in my euro write up, a delay in the meeting of finance ministers weighed on high-yielding currencies including the Loonie yesterday. Not only that, the Loonie bears must have also reacted to the disappointing new motor vehicle sales data, the only report out from Canada yesterday.
The data clocked in a 3.0% decline in December, which disappointed expectations of a 0.5% gain as well as its previous -1.0% reading.
Canada won’t be releasing any economic report today, so risk appetite might once again dictate the comdoll’s price action. Keep close tabs on any announcement that might influence risk appetite, aight?
Rally and reverse! The Loonie was off to a good start as risk appetite surged during the Asian session. However, the commodity currency quickly erased its gains during the London and U.S. session as risk aversion returned. USD/CAD opened at .9995, dipped to a low of .9938, then closed at .9992.
Since Canada didn’t release any economic reports, the Loonie was left vulnerable to the market’s mood swings. At first, the Loonie was able to bank on risk appetite when China announced that it will lend a helping hand in solving euro zone’s debt crisis. Just when things started to look a little brighter for Greece, tables turned when euro zone finance ministers announced that they were still undecided when it comes to releasing the bailout funds.
Canada is set to release a couple of reports, namely its foreign securities purchases and manufacturing sales data, today. Sales of Canadian assets are expected to slip from 14.99B CAD in November to 7.98B CAD for December, reflecting a downturn in demand for the Canadian currency as well. Meanwhile, manufacturing sales are projected to rise by 1.0% in December, which would be half the 2.0% increase seen last November. Keep an eye out for those reports due 1:30 pm GMT today.
Just like its comdoll siblings, the Canadian dollar stumbled out of the block, but recovered in the New York session to stomp all over the Greenback. After retesting the previous week high, USD/CAD dropped all the way down to .9961, down 31 pips from its opening price.
What was surprising was that the Canadian dollar rallied, despite the relatively worse-than-expected economic data that was released.
First, less foreigner investors dumped their cash in Canadian securities, as Sales of Canadian assets came in at just 7.4 billion CAD, way below the 7.8 billion CAD expectation. This means that demand for Canadian financial instruments fell, which would in turn mean less demand for the Canadian dollar.
Second, manufacturing sales printed at just 0.6% which was slightly less than the projected 1.0% increase, and way below last month’s figure of 1.9%.
Still, the good vibes from other financial markets overcame these bad data, allowing the Canadian dollar to rally. The question is, will we see similar movement today?
Stayed tuned at 12:00 pm GMT, as monthly CPI figures will be available. Word is that inflation has remained subdued and that the core CPI report will print at just 0.1%. If inflation continues to print at the lower end of the Bank of Canada’s desired range, then it may just give central bankers the room they need to cut rates if they deem it necessary!
Thanks to strong CPI data, the Loonie was able to end a bit higher against the U.S. dollar on Friday. USD/CAD opened at .9965, dipped to a low of .9941, then closed at .9957. The pair gapped down over the weekend, suggesting that the Loonie could continue its rally.
Canada’s monthly CPI printed a 0.4% increase in price levels for January, beating expectations of a 0.3% uptick. The core figure also came in stronger than expected as it showed a 0.2% rise instead of a mere 0.1% increase. On an annualized basis, that’s a 2.5% increase in price levels for January, which is higher than the 2.3% figure seen last December.
Tomorrow, Canada will release its retail sales figure for January and is expected to show a 0.2% decline in consumer spending. The core version, on the other hand, could print a 0.2% increase. No other reports are set for release from Canada for the rest of the week, so make sure you stay tuned for the Canadian retail sales report. Oh, and don’t forget to keep close tabs on market sentiment as well!
The Loonie wasn’t able to make much progress after gapping up against the Greenback over the weekend. USD/CAD closed at .9937, 4 pips above the week’s opening price and 20 pips below last Friday’s close.
The Loonie had a hard time getting its groove on against the dollar as the U.S. market celebrated a bank holiday. However, it did strengthen over the weekend as the PBOC’s 50-basis point cut in its RRR and renewed hopes for Greece’s second bailout package promoted risk taking.
I know yesterday was a bit of a bore for Loonie traders, but today seems much more promising! It’ll be particularly interesting to see how the Canadian currency will perform as the U.S. market returns from its 3-day weekend, just in time to catch the release of Canada’s retail sales report at 1:30 pm GMT.
The headline figure is expected to show a 0.2% decline following the previous month’s 0.3% rise. On the other hand, the core figure is forecasted to show an increase of 0.1% after printing a 0.3% uptick in November.
Uh-oh! It looks like USD/CAD is heading back up to parity. Opening at .9937, the pair was on an uptrend yesterday, closing at .9967 after tapping an intraday high of .9977.
For the most part of the day, the Loonie’s price action was dictated by market sentiment. It was momentarily able to gain the upper hand against the dollar at the wake of the Greek debt deal announcement. However, because the bailout plan failed to impress investors, the Loonie was forced to give up its gains.
It also didn’t help that we saw mixed reports from Canada yesterday. The retail sales report for December came in as expected at -0.2%. However, excluding volatile items, the core retail sales figure showed that spending was flat during the month and disappointed the 0.1% growth that markets were expecting.
On a brighter note though, wholesale sales for December topped expectations for a 0.6% increase when it printed at 0.9%.
Our forex calendar is blank for reports from Canada today. So be sure to keep tabs on market sentiment, ayt? Keep in mind that the currency usually rallies when risk appetite picks up.
The Loonie’s gotta get out of its rut because it has lost ground to the Greenback three days in a row now! With risk appetite down in the dumps, USD/CAD climbed another 35 pips to end the day just above parity at 1.0002.
Risk was off, and so was the Loonie’s performance. It had a hard time attracting buyers yesterday as demand for the comdolls was weak throughout the day. And with no economic reports to support it, the Loonie just kept falling!
I have a feeling we may see more of the same today if risk appetite doesn’t improve significantly, as there’s little chance that the reports due for release today (quarterly corporate profits at 1:30 pm GMT and the BOC review at 3:30 pm GMT) will have a big impact on Loonie price action. Y’all know what to do in times like this, right? Keep risk sentiment and oil prices in check!
It ends at three! The Loonie managed to end its losing streak against the U.S. dollar yesterday as USD/CAD topped at 1.0011 and slid down to close at .9976. Was that merely a retracement or will the Canadian dollar be able to hold on to its recent gains?
Stronger than expected corporate profits for the last quarter of 2011 kept the Loonie afloat in yesterday’s trading as the report showed a 9.0% jump in earnings, erasing the previous quarter’s 0.5% decline. Analysts remarked that this was the highest level of corporate profits for Canada ever since the onset of the financial crisis in 2008. Way to go, Canada!
Meanwhile, the BOC review revealed that Governor Mark Carney was growing concerned about the growing level of household debt in Canada. Apparently, their low interest rates encouraged households to take on much more loans, but this could eventually be harmful for the Canadian economy. Hopefully this won’t take its toll on consumer spending later on!
Canada won’t be releasing any economic figures today, but make sure you stay tuned for Carney’s speech around 3:00 pm GMT. The central bank head is set to testify at the U.S. monetary policy forum in New York so he might just drop some hints on the BOC’s future monetary policy stance.
The Loonie suffered a small defeat last Friday as it gave up ground against other major currencies. It fell 21 pips against the dollar and a whopping 122 pips versus the euro.
No important economic reports from Canada came out last Friday and this week, there’s only one market mover scheduled to happen.
On Friday, the figures on the country’s GDP will be published. The market is expecting the report to show a 0.3% increase, which is a huge improvement from last month’s 0.1% figure. GDP reports normally have a strong impact on price action, so expect the GDP to create a lot of volatility once it is released. Better-than-expected results usually lead to a rally in the Loonie.
Just when it seemed like the Loonie was off to set new highs, it came tumbling down late in the day. USD/CAD hit a high at 1.0050 but eventually dropped back below to finish at .9991, 4 pips below its opening price on the day.
The Canadian dollar has been resilient as of late, which shouldn’t come too much as a surprise. Commodities have been on a rally lately, specifically oil. Now, if you remember from your lessons in the School of Pipsology, the Canadian dollar is highly correlated to oil, so whenever oil rises, the Canadian dollar normally follows suit.
No biggies on the docket once again from Canada, so keep an eye out on risk sentiment. You never know when a catalyst will emerge to rock the markets!
Slow and easy was the way of the Loonie to victory yesterday. USD/CAD trickled lower after opening at .9991, ending the day with a 37-pip win for the commodity currency at .9954.
Without any economic report from Canada, the currency’s price action was dictated for the most part by market sentiment. It seems that positive data from other countries sparked a little bit of risk-taking.
However, I have a feeling that we won’t see much movements on the charts until the outcome of the ECB’s second LTRO is announced. So keep an ear out because our forex calendar still doesn’t have any economic data on tap for the Loonie today. (Check out my EUR commentary for more details on LTRO 2.)
The Loonie avoided the comdoll bandwagon yesterday as it went up against the Greenback just when the other commodity-related currencies were weakening. USD/CAD even reached an intraday low of .9845 before capping the day at .9895.
No economic report was released from Canada yesterday, but rising oil prices provided support to the Loonie when the dollar soared on Bernanke’s less-dovish-than-expected speech.
Let’s see if we can get any more action from the Loonie today. At 1:30 pm GMT Canada is set to release not only its current account report, but also its raw materials price index data. The reports are expected to clock in higher than their previous readings, but stick around in case there are surprises!
The Loonie felt groovy in yesterday’s trading despite negative data, tapping its new one-year high against the dollar at .9842. By the day’s close, USD/CAD settled at .9859, 36 pips below its opening price.
It was reported yesterday that Canada’s current account deficit for Q4 2011 was at 10.3 billion CAD. The figure disappointed the market consensus which was for a more modest discrepancy between the value of imported and exported goods at 9.4 billion CAD. However, I guess the report wasn’t all that bad considering that the deficit was still narrower than the 12.3 billion we saw for Q3 2011.
For the most part though, I think the Loonie was boosted by the rise in oil. Keep in mind that since the commodity is Canada’s largest export, the currency tends to mimic its moves. So keep tabs on it in today’s trading!
Also make sure you don’t miss the monthly GDP report due later at 1:30 pm GMT. A figure better than the expected 0.3% uptick for December will probably be bullish for the Loonie. Stay tuned!
All good things must come to an end. last Friday, the Loonie snapped its 4-day wining streak against the Greenback as risk aversion once again hit the markets. The Loonie ended the U.S. trading session with a 28-pip loss against the safe haven Greenback.
The better-than-expected Canadian GDP (0.4% actual vs 0.3% expected) failed to overpower the strong case of risk aversion. Euro zone finance ministers last Friday decided that they have decided to withhold part of Greece’s bailout funds until they are reassured again that Greece is committed to implement the agreed austerity and reform measures to reduce their debt.
There will be no economic data released today but the following days will be heavy. Tomorrow, at 3:00 am GMT, the Ivey PMI will be published. A reading of 62.2 is predicted, which is slightly lower than last month’s 64.1.
On Wednesday, the building permits report will come out. The forecast is a 2.3% decline in permits, opposite the 11.1% gain seen in last month’s version.
On Thursday, the Bank of Canada (BOC)'s interest rate decision will be announced. The market widely expects rates to be held steady, so attention will most likely shift to the central bank’s accompanying statement.
The last important report for the week is Canada’s employment report. It is slated to show that 13,900 (net) people were hired in February. The unemployment rate, however, is expected to have remained unchanged at 7.6%.
For the second straight trading day, the Loonie suffered defeat under the hands of the might Greenback. USD/CAD closed the U.S. trading session at .9942, 50 pips higher from its opening price during the Asian session.
The USD/CAD’s rally wasn’t the result of internal though. Rather, it was an effect of the U.S. Factory Orders report and ISM Non-Manufacturing PMI coming in better than expected.
Today, the only report on the economic cupboard is the monthly Ivey Purchasing Managers’ Index. It is slated to print a reading of 62.1, which is slightly lower than the previous month’s 64.1. If the negative forecast holds, it could lead to another sell-off in the Loonie again today.
Make that three in a row! The Loonie took another major hit across the board as risk aversion turned out to be the dominating market theme in yesterday’s trading session. USD/CAD closed the U.S. trading session at 1.0005, 64 pips from where it began that day.
The better-than-expected Ivey Purchasing Managers’ Index, which came in with a reading of 66.5 versus the 62.1 expected, was unable to lift the market’s mood.
The only red flag on Canada’s forex calendar today is its building permits report at 1:30 pm GMT. The market is a expecting permits to decrease by 3.1% this time, opposite the 11.1% rise seen the month before.