The US non-farm payrolls report is the biggest event risk on the calendar for the currency market tomorrow but that should not draw away from three very important numbers set to be released from Canada and Australia.
The pace of growth in Canadian employment is expected to slow materially after more than 40k jobs were created in January and February. Despite high oil prices, the slowdown in US growth will take steam out of the Canadian economy. We expect this not only to be reflected in the employment report, but also the IVEY Purchasing Managers Index. Australia will also be releasing their retail sales data for the month of February. Like Canada, employment has been hot and therefore retail sales are expected to be strong. Although the Reserve Bank of Australia has grown increasingly cautious, activity in the service sector continues to accelerate according to the latest PMI data.