The Canadian dollar was slightly ahead of its US counterpart in the first trading session of the week. The CAD got a boost coming back from the Easter long weekend to the news of higher industrial production in China that beat expectations with a 7.6 percent gain. The Chinese GDP also improved on the forecast with a 6.9 gain. Commodity currencies improved based on the data out of China ahead of a week with few meaningful economic indicators, but plenty of political risk heading into the French elections on Sunday.
Oil prices fell as profit taking took place as crude has been on an upward trajectory and continues to be supported by comments from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on the success of the production cut agreement. The group of oil producers will meet in Vienna this weekend and sure to be in the agenda is the extension of the deal. Canadian and US producers have benefited from improved pricing, as they are not part of the cut and have raised the number of rigs in service.
The USD/CAD lost 0.091 percent in the last 24 hours. The currency is trading at 1.3314 on a thin trading market as the Easter holiday is still in effect in some regions. The US dollar has been weaker against all majors, except the JPY, on comments from Treasury Secretary Mnuchin that confirmed that the failure to introduce healthcare reform will have a negative impact on proposed tax reforms targeted to get before congress before August.
The loonie will trade on little Canadian fundamental data with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to be released on Friday, April 21 and forecasted to show a gain of 0.4 percent.
Tuesday, April 18
8:30am USD Building Permits
Oil prices fell as profit taking took place as crude has been on an upward trajectory and continues to be supported by comments from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) on the success of the production cut agreement. The group of oil producers will meet in Vienna this weekend and sure to be in the agenda is the extension of the deal. Canadian and US producers have benefited from improved pricing, as they are not part of the cut and have raised the number of rigs in service.
The USD/CAD lost 0.091 percent in the last 24 hours. The currency is trading at 1.3314 on a thin trading market as the Easter holiday is still in effect in some regions. The US dollar has been weaker against all majors, except the JPY, on comments from Treasury Secretary Mnuchin that confirmed that the failure to introduce healthcare reform will have a negative impact on proposed tax reforms targeted to get before congress before August.
The loonie will trade on little Canadian fundamental data with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) to be released on Friday, April 21 and forecasted to show a gain of 0.4 percent.
Tuesday, April 18
8:30am USD Building Permits