The Canadian dollar rose against its US counterpart on Thursday, as traders anticipate the release of the Canadian consumer price index data tomorrow. Another release from the US Federal Reserve on Wednesday contained no strong signals for an interest rate hike in March, which left the greenback unsupported today.
Statistics Canada is due to release the Canadian CPI data for January on Friday. Another data release from the statistical office showed that Canadian corporate profits rose 3.6% to $86.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2016, from the previous quarter. Operating profits also increased, gaining 13.2% from the fourth quarter of 2015.
Meanwhile in the United States, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of the Federal Open Market Committeeâs latest policy meeting. The minutes revealed a dovish tone, as the committee stated a hike will happen fairly soon, but without revealing further details. Policy makers are still confident that the US economy is growing at a stable pace, which will prompt the Federal Reserve to raise rates.
The minutes also showed that there is a sentiment of uncertainty about President Donald Trumpâs fiscal stimulus plan, which still lacks a lot of details. The CME Group FedWatch tool weighs a 22.1% chance of raising rates when the Federal Open Market Committee meets on March 15, and a 43.6% chance for Mayâs meeting.
USD/CAD traded at 1.3115 as of 19:25 GMT on Thursday, from 1.3088 at 13:50 GMT, the pairâs lowest level since February 20. USD/CAD opened trading today at 1.3164.
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