The loonie saw a generalized rise yesterday, gaining more than 60 points against the U.S. dollar, despite the fact that no significant economic indicators were released in Canada. Often, such movements can be explained by profit-taking and can represent opportunities. In the United States, Housing Starts were slightly disappointing, with gains of 1,127,000 compared with an expected 1,175,000, although nothing to alarm observers.
With yesterday’s movement, the USD/CAD pair is back in familiar territory, meaning where it was at the start of the week. USD buyers with short-term needs could take advantage of these levels before inflation is posted in Canada tomorrow.
This morning, European stock exchanges are in the red, due to concern about developments in the crisis between the Spanish and Catalan governments.
On the currency front, the New Zealand dollar is seeing a major slide (-1.85% against the USD) after the election of a government convinced that the currency is overvalued.
Today, few major economic indicators will be released in North America as we get ready for Canadian inflation tomorrow.
Julien Duquette
Range of the day: 1.2400 – 1.2525