Week In FX Americas – Loonies Takes A Brief Flight

Canada released two conflicting data points at the same time on Friday – retail sales and inflation. The loonie briefly gained support from only one release and that was the news that Canadian January inflation topped expectations with the all item CPI annual rise at +1.5% from the December’s print of +1.2%. Numbers like this should convince the market to quash any speculation, at least temporarily, that the BoC might be forced by the persistent threat of “disinflation” to ease o/n rates.

Aside from rate differentials, the CAD has remained under pressure outright this week mainly due to some M&A energy activity where copious amounts of the ‘greenback’ have been required to seal the deal. Not so good was the news that Canadian retail sales in December fell the most in 12-months – falling -1.8% to $40.19b. The market had been forecasting a -0.4% headline decline. Certainly not providing any extra support for the loonie was the previous monthly gain in November having to be revised down to +0.5%.

Even this year’s list of disappointing US economic reports is finding it difficult to overthrow the dollar; the bulls continue to stick to their view that current data will not alter the Fed’s economic outlook – all the bad is being blamed on the weather. The FOMC minutes this week focuses hard on the medium term outlook and with no deviation from Fed expectations should allow the ongoing of modest tapering.

• G20 Meeting to Focus on Global Growth
• Canadian Inflation Rises 1.5 Percent Year Over Year
• Bank Analysts Divided on Gold Outlook
• US Housing Construction Falls 16 Percent in January
• US Consumer Prices Rise in January
• US Weekly Claims Fall Signal Improving Employment Conditions
• US Treasury Secretary Is Optimistic About American Congress Working Together
• Fed Members Seen Divided On Future Interest Rate Hikes
• IMF: Swift Cut Of Stimulus Risky For US
• EUR/USD Near Seven Week High at 1.3750
• US Enact New Capital Requirements For Foreign Banks
• Banks Selling Bonds Faster Than Fed Can Buy
• Soros Bets $1.3 Billion That US Stocks Market Will Fall
• Market Looking Out For Outlook Hints From Fed’s Minutes

Content 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 Business Information & Services, Inc. or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. If you would like to reproduce or redistribute any of the content found on MarketPulse, an award winning forex, commodities and global indices analysis and news site service produced by OANDA Business Information & Services, Inc., please access the RSS feed or contact us at info@marketpulse.com. Visit https://www.marketpulse.com/ to find out more about the beat of the global markets. © 2023 OANDA Business Information & Services Inc.