CAD boosted by trade surplus
Daily Currency Update
CAD - Canadian Dollar
The Canadian dollar held its ground against the US dollar on Tuesday even as USD gained fresh strength against other major currencies. USDCAD was down 0.19%, trading around 1.2562 at the time of writing.
CAD was supported by rising commodity prices as oil prices rose to a seven-year high. Also, Canada’s trade surplus jumped in August largely due to the increase in energy product exports.
According to Statistics Canada, the economy posted a trade surplus of $1.9 billion in August, beating expectations, as exports rose by 0.8% and imports fell by 1.4%.
Key Movers
A broadly strengthening dollar pushed EURUSD a little lower overnight. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is set to give a speech at 11 a.m. eastern. Market watchers will be paying close attention to any mention about rising inflation rates in the Eurozone, which is currently a key driver of the euro. EURUSD was down 0.25%, trading at 1.2588 at the time of writing.The pound edged slightly higher but remained pressured by the dollar, with GBPUSD trading above 1.36 this morning. The UK is still dealing with a trucker shortage, but with the army delivering fuel to gas stations and Prime Minister Boris Johnson assuring the public that the UK has “reliable supply chains for Christmas”, could be good news for the pound in the short-term.
The Australian dollar retreated this morning after being one of the top performers through trade on Monday. Underpinning the AUD is a surge in commodity prices, particularly natural gas and coal. Rising fears that a global energy crisis will derail an already fragile pandemic recovery have driven prices higher through the last months with thermal coal now up 40% in the last 30 days alone and 200% for the year.
After posting minor losses on Monday, we saw the US dollar rebound overnight. Shaky financial markets due to headlines around the threat of COVID-19 variants as well as the energy crisis drove up demand for the safe-haven US dollar once again. The US Dollar Index was up 0.25% around 94.01 at the time of writing. USD also strengthened after the US IMS Services PMI beat analyst expectations.
Expected Ranges
- EUR/CAD: 1.4554 - 1.4639 ▼
- GBP/CAD: 1.7102 - 1.7166 ▼
- AUD/CAD: 0.9149 - 0.9181 ▼
- USD/CAD: 1.2558 - 1.2625 ▼