Home Daily Commentaries The Loonie is under pressure after showing poor retail sales numbers.

The Loonie is under pressure after showing poor retail sales numbers.

Daily Currency Update

CAD - Canadian DollarThe Loonie briefly fell to a fresh session low against the Greenback in early Friday trading, after Canada’s July retail sales came in below expectations. Globally, equities were under pressure again, dragging risk-based currencies with them, including the Loonie. Tech stocks were the primary catalyst for falls as the Nasdaq shed 1.48% overnight and the S&P 500 went down 0.85%. Investors sold on the Federal Reserve's lack of further QE plan updates.Technically speaking, the USD/CAD pair has lost momentum to the downside and it is trading at 1.3176 at the time of this writing. The USD/CAD pair is starting to show a bullish bias (weaker Loonie) as the pair holds above the 20-day moving average. The first support is at 1.3147, followed by 1.3088 and 1.3047. The resistance levels are 1.3268 and 1.3316.

Key Movers

The US Dollar index is trading -0.1% lower this morning as several economic releases in the United States did little to move the needle in currency markets. Unemployment claims came in slightly below expectations as 860,000 American Citizens filed for first-time claims, which represents a modest shift lower. The Philly Fed Manufacturing Index grew slightly in September, despite falling from 17.2 in August to 15 this month. The positive reading suggests that market conditions are somewhat improving.This morning, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said the U.S. economy can fully recover from the coronavirus pandemic, showing optimism and weakening the US dollar. He added, “We want to keep rates low out several years .... to allow the economy to fully recover from the crisis.” His comments did not help the mini bounces seen in the US dollar.

Expected Ranges

  • USD/CAD: 1.3128 - 1.3209 ▲
  • EUR/CAD: 1.5578 - 1.5659 ▲
  • GBP/CAD: 1.6987 - 1.7183 ▼
  • AUD/CAD: 0.9603 - 0.9668 ▲
  • NZD/CAD: 0.8900 - 0.8950 ▲