Daily Currency Update
CAD - Canadian DollarThe Loonie trades flat versus the U.S. dollar this morning, following the biggest decline this month. Yesterday, the USD/CAD pair moved within a range from 1.3241 to an intraday high of 1.3308 (weakening Loonie) because of the declining mood in the capital markets driven by Monday's coronavirus-driven tumble. This morning, the Loonie is outperforming its Group-of-10 peers, except for the British Pound and safe-haven currencies. It is increasing 0.1, 0.26, and 0.45 versus the Euro, Aussie dollar, and Kiwi dollar, but it is falling 0.13 and 0.09 percent versus the Japanese Yen and Swiss Franc. On the release side, economically speaking, according to Statistics Canada, Canadian operating profits rose 3.6 percent to C$ 112.3B in 4Q of 2019 and operating profits of non-financial firms rose 0.4 percent in 4Q to C$75.1B. At the same time, operating profits of financial firms rose 10.7 percent in 4Q to C$37.2B. This news is positively influencing the Loonie. Later today, at 12:30 pm, BoC's Lane will give a speech in Montreal, which might create some volatility in the Loonie crosses.
Key Movers
The British Pound is gaining against the Euro in a relatively quiet turnaround. However, in the case of the EUR/USD pair, it is down 0.11 percent after market participants are pricing in a ten basis points ECB cut in 2021 as the virus spreads. For the Pound, it is a positive day, increasing 0.32 percent at the time of this writing as ministers from European Union member states are due to sign off on a negotiating mandate for trade talks with the U.K. However, the tension in both sides is soaring. In Asia, Japanese Prime Minister Abe said that Japan is aiming to halt the domestic spread of the coronavirus. At the same time, the Ministry of Finance Vice-Minister Yoshiki Takeuchi blamed the virus as the reason for the increase in currency volatility. The Dow fell by more than 1,000 points yesterday on its worst day in more than two years, erasing all of 2020's gains. Most news headlines say that coronavirus fears finally broke the stock market's momentum; of course, the big winner was the Yen yesterday.
Expected Ranges
- USD/CAD: 1.3267 - 1.3300 ▼
- EUR/CAD: 1.4389 - 1.4455 ▼
- GBP/CAD: 1.7229 - 1.7300 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.8726 - 0.8790 ▼
- NZD/CAD: 0.8353 - 0.8413 ▼