By Ketki Saxena
Investing.com – The Canadian dollar climbed against a basket of major currencies today, as stronger than expected retail sales and uptick in risk sentiment boosted the Canadian dollar.
Canadian retail sales jumped 0.6% in September, well above estimates for a flat reading.
The US dollar meanwhile was pressured by weak US economic data, as the US Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) showed a weakening Manufacturing component in November.
On a fundamental level for the pair, Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank (TSX:BNS) notes that “CAD’s gains are running a little ahead of fundamentals but the misalignment is not all that significant and, all else equal, there is no significant impediment to additional CAD gains.”
“ Our week ahead model indicates more near-term downside potential in spot (to 1.3585) around a 1.3710/1.3455 range for the week ahead.”
The week ahead will feature a loaded economic docket, including Personal Income and Spending, PCE data on Thursday. ISM Manufacturing data follows on Friday. The week also features several appearances from Fed officials, including from Fed chair Jerome Powell.
The Canadian economic docket will also feature some important releases, including Q3 current account data on Wednesday, Q3 GDP data on Thursday and Canadian employment data on Friday.