The Canadian dollar dropped against its rivals today as consumer prices and retail sales reports failed to reach market expectations, suggesting that Canada’ economy does not feel particularly well.
The Consumer Price Index fell 0.2% in August (not adjusted for seasonal variations, the seasonally adjusted drop was 0.1%) versus the analysts’ expectations of 0.1% growth. The core components of the index showed no change whereas markets were counting on a 0.2% increase. Retail sales fell 0.1% in July (both with and without volatile components). That’s compared with the predictions of growth by 0.2% for the main index and 0.5% for the core components (in other words, retail sales excluding automobiles — the most volatile part of the index).
Earlier during the trading session, the Canadian currency was supported by reports about talks between Saudi Arabia and Iran, who were discussing a freeze of oil output that should bolster prices for the commodity. Experts remain skeptical about the production cap deal, and currently futures for crude oil trade below the opening level even though they had managed to rise earlier.
USD/CAD rallied from 1.3051 to 1.3137 as of 13:33 GMT today. EUR/CAD advanced from 1.4624 to 1.4725. CAD/CHF dropped from 0.7425 to 0.7403.
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