Week in FX Americas – Loonie Had More than ‘A’ Wing Clipped

There is no denying it and no real excuse for it, the pitiful Canadian jobs report that shred -$54k jobs yesterday certainly overshadowed Friday’s dismal US employment report (+88k vs. +200k). The country with the loonie and 35-million inhabitants happened to lose -51k full-time jobs and -400 part-timers. The employment miss was the largest in three-years, since the last recession, as all the Canadian job components underperformed.

Not helping the loonie and in fact making matters worse was the softer than forecasted trade data (-$1.02b vs. +$0.2b). All of this had Canadian yields falling much faster, especially further out the curve, than its US counterpart. The only ‘ray of sunshine’ on the economic front came from March’s Canadian Ivey PMI headline print. On a seasonally adjusted basis the PMI was at 61.6, indicating that purchasing activity improved in February. The employment sub-index was at 53.1, indicating that employment was higher than last month and just maybe this week’s employment report is just another blip in this long and bumpy road.

This is considered a major setback for the Canadian bull; who managed to push the CAD higher throughout the month of March. The mighty green dollar was capable of printing a new monthly outright low and now more so since the CAD jobless rate has rallied to +7.2% in March from +7% in February. The participation rate –the number of people in the labor force, fell to +66.6. Where to now? Nowhere fast after Friday’s currency carnage that’s for sure. The upside level of 1.0250 remains a formidable resistance level for now, along with dollar support 1.0135.

WEEK AHEAD

* JPY Current Account
* CNY CPI Y/Y
* CHF CPI M/M
* GBP Manufacturing Production
* CAD Building Permits
* USD FOMC Meeting Minutes
* AUD Employment Change
* USD Unemployment Claims
* USD Core Retail Sales
* USD PPI
* USD Bernanke Speaks

This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.

Dean Popplewell

Dean Popplewell

Vice-President of Market Analysis at MarketPulse
Dean Popplewell has nearly two decades of experience trading currencies and fixed income instruments. He has a deep understanding of market fundamentals and the impact of global events on capital markets. He is respected among professional traders for his skilled analysis and career history as global head of trading for firms such as Scotia Capital and BMO Nesbitt Burns. Since joining OANDA in 2006, Dean has played an instrumental role in driving awareness of the forex market as an emerging asset class for retail investors, as well as providing expert counsel to a number of internal teams on how to best serve clients and industry stakeholders.
Dean Popplewell