Canadian dollar down on oil and US jobs
Daily Currency Update
The Canadian dollar, like most of its peers, had been gaining against the USD overnight but turned sharply down after the release of the US Non-Farm Payroll Report in the US. Canadian jobs weren’t released today but will instead come out next week. The fall price of oil, giving pause to what looked like a run back towards $80 a barrel, derailed demand for the Loonie.Key Movers
The US Dollar Index (DXY) was up this morning on the back of significant job growth in January. The Non-Farm Payrolls Report showed that the US economy added 353,000 jobs last month, almost double the consensus expectation of 180,000. Unemployment also dropped to 3.7% from 3.8% last month, continuing an unprecedented period of strong employment in the US. This release, paired with the Fed announcement on Wednesday, is now seeing markets rethink the earlier position that the central bank would cut rates as early as March.The euro and GBP had both been outperforming the USD in the overnight markets but have now given up all the gains they had made after the US Jobs release. Yesterday, the Bank of England held rates steady rather than cutting as the re-engineered inflation forecast showed inflation may tick back up, causing the bank to take a “wait-and-see” position.
Oil prices continued to fall this morning. The benchmark WTI price dropped back towards $73 a barrel from a high of $77 last week. This is mainly due to rumors of renewed efforts to negotiate a cease-fire in the Middle East.
Expected Ranges
- EUR/CAD: 1.4513 - 1.4619 ▼
- GBP/CAD: 1.6992 - 1.7074 ▼
- AUD/CAD: 0.8765 - 0.8839 ▼
- USD/CAD: 1.3367 - -1.6466 ▲