Daily Currency Update
CAD - Canadian DollarCanadian Retail Sales and New Housing Price Index both missed expectations this morning. The loonie fell 0.34% at the release on the weak readings. Adding to the Loonies pressure are US economic releases for US GDP and Personal Consumption Expenditures, which were both in line with consensus. WTI crude rose to 61.12 overnight and has since settled down to open the North American session at 60.98. Crude has been on the rise aftermarket participants factor in heightened global growth as the US and China settling on a resolution for Phase One, which will temper tariff reforms for the two mega trading partners. US economic data this morning came in at expectations. With US GDP Q3 annualized flat at 2.1% n line with previous and consensus. Also released at 8:30 am EST was Personal Consumption Expenditures not showing any green shoots but also inline with expectations and the former of 1.5%. Yesterday saw the S&P rise to an all-time high pushing past 3200 for the very first time. Market Participants bought into the index on the commentary from Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said the US and China would sign their Phase One portion of the trade agreement in January.
Key Movers
Following the post-election rally, the Pound has lost pretty much all gains against the Greenback, and we find it 3% lower and on a continued downward journey hovering at 1.3013 at the time of writing. The main driver yesterday was on the back of Bank of England and its monetary policy decision, they opted to leave rates on hold, but we see two policymakers continuing to push for lower interest rates. The risk of a 2020 rate cut lingers to the detriment of the GBP exchange rate.In other news, the Bank of Japan kept its policy rate steady in line with the ECB and US Federal Reserve, citing that they will likely be in a holding pattern for some time. As widely expected, the BOJ maintained its short-term interest rate target at -0.1 percent and that for 10-year government bond yields around 0 percent.
Expected Ranges
- USD/CAD: 1.3120 - 1.3182 ▲
- EUR/CAD: 1.4567 - 1.4619 ▲
- GBP/CAD: 1.7064 - 1.7186 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.9030 - 0.9092 ▲
- NZD/CAD: 0.8654 - 0.8701 ▲