Home Daily Commentaries CAD remains steady amid positive employment data

CAD remains steady amid positive employment data

Daily Currency Update

The Canadian dollar continues to strengthen after Friday’s employment data release came out better than expected. The Canadian economy gained 41,400 jobs in April and unemployment came in at 5%. As a commodity-linked currency, the Loonie is finding strong support from steady oil prices. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil is recovering from last week’s volatility and now sits at just over $72 a barrel.

Key Movers

The US dollar bounces back slightly today with the current dollar index (DXY) sitting at the 101.698 range. This bounce comes amid market expectations that the Federal Reserve will not continue to hike interest rates. Analysts believe that the Fed will instead cut rates before the end of the year. A statement made by Federal Reserve board member, Phillip Jefferson, claimed that the banking system is resilient and resilient. Jefferson noted that banks have started to raise lending standards as inflation deflates. Friday’s non-farm payroll data report was better than expected and translated into a brief spike for the USD. Market participants are awaiting the US Consumer Price Index (CPI) data release tomorrow for further movements.

The Australian economy reports positive news announcing the first budget surplus in 15 years. Australian officials are crediting strong job growth and high mining profits for this surplus.

The GBP/CAD pair is up today, opening the markets at 1.68722 levels. This upward movement comes in amid the Halifax Bank of Scotland’s data release that the House Price Index (HPI) has declined by 0.3% versus the forecasted increase of 0.2%.

Expected Ranges

  • EUR/CAD: 1.4634 - 1.5191 ▼
  • GBP/CAD: 1.6569 - 1.7167 ▼
  • AUD/CAD: 0.8964 - 0.9153 ▼
  • USD/CAD: 1.3352 - 1.3678 ▲