Who said the Canada was boring? The Canadian dollar is having a nice share of swings against the dollar of its southern neighbor. After touching 1.27 yesterday, suffering the rising oil inventories, today is a different day.
USD/CAD is falling once again, trading under 1.25.
The Canadian dollar enjoys first and foremost a positive swing in oil prices: WTI Crude is up once again, trading above $50 a barrel. Brent is above $57. The 2-3% rise certainly supports the Canadian dollar. This same currency totally ignores a lower than expected rise in the domestic NHPI: 0.1% instead of 0.2%.
But the story has two sides: the US reported yet another fall in retail sales, and it was worse than what had been anticipated: -0.8% in the headline number and 0.9% in core. Even though when excluding gas and autos, sales actually rose, this was not enough to convince traders to buy dollars. Also jobless claims fell short of expectations.
So there we have it: after a gradual slide in USD/CAD, the move turned into an avalanche.
Is this a big change of direction? Probably not. Oil is expected to remain depressed and the Fed is predicted to hike later this year. The big picture remains unchanged.
More: Where To Sell EUR/USD, AUD/USD, & To Buy USD/CAD? – UBS
