Daily Currency Update
CAD - Canadian DollarThe Loonie pared losses against the U.S. dollar. Still, it plunged 1, 1.3, 0.92 and 0.47 percent versus the Yen, Swiss Franc, Euro and British Pound, respectively, in overnight trading, as the spread of the coronavirus continued. This morning, after February Canadian jobs data showed a gain of 30.3k, beating estimates of 11K increase, the Loonie barely erased small losses, but it is all gone, and it keeps falling at the time of this writing. Canada’s job market strengthened for a third straight month, while wages data beat estimates. According to Statistics Canada, the increase in employment was 0.2 percent in February, but the unemployment rate increased by 0.1 percentage points to 5.6 percent. At the same time, the unemployment rate came in at 5.6 percent, as expected. Statistics Canada also said in its report that while the increases happened in Quebec, Alberta, Nova Scotia and Manitoba, little change was observed in the remaining provinces. Furthermore, there was a small change of employment among the core-aged, and older populations; the increase in employment happened most significantly in the youth population. Again, this solid employment report comes amid negative news related to the virus that it is making the global equity markets plunge. The USD/CAD pair is trading at 1.3415, which represents no change regarding the close yesterday at 5:00 pm EST. Technically speaking, important support and resistance levels are 1.3350 and 1.3462 respectively, but, this week, the Loonie and Greenback are the least loved currencies.
Key Movers
Strong employment data in the U.S. and Canada is not enough for the Greenback and Loonie, which are being overshadowed by concern over the spread of the coronavirus and its impact on economic growth.The FX market is ignoring strong employment numbers in the U.S., and for now, the U.S. dollar has not erased losses, despite a positive job data surprise, where the February non-farm payroll report came in stronger than the forecast and data for January was revised higher. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labour Statistics, the unemployment rate came in at 3.5 percent, which represents 5.8 million unemployed persons in the U.S. Important job gains occurred in health care and social assistance, food services and drinking places, amongst other areas. The unemployment rate has been either 3.5 percent or 3.6 percent for the past six months. The EUR/USD pair traded higher in the overnight session, reaching an intraday high of 1.1341 (weaker U.S. dollar). It is trading at 1.1346 at the time of this writing, which represents an increase of 0.97 percent for the Euro against the Greenback.
Expected Ranges
- USD/CAD: 1.3350 - 1.3465 ▲
- EUR/CAD: 1.5105 - 1.5295 ▲
- GBP/CAD: 1.7431 - 1.7565 ▲
- AUD/CAD: 0.8854 - 0.8920 ▲
- NZD/CAD: 0.8491 - 0.8549 ▲