The Canadian dollar lost ground against most major currencies in early New York deals on Friday, as the nation’s economic growth slowed in August from last month.
Data from Statistics Canada showed that GDP edged up 0.1 percent in August, following a 0.4 percent rise in July. The reading matched economists’ forecast.
The European stocks were lower, amid weak corporate earnings, and as Eurozone consumer prices stagnated in October.
Meanwhile, crude oil prices inched higher, as yesterday’s weak U.S. GDP data renewed hopes the Federal Reserve will delay hiking interest rates.
WTI light, sweet crude oil for December was up 10 cents at $46.16 a barrel.
The loonie has been lower against the euro, yen and the aussie in European deals. Against the greenback, it trended higher.
Pulling away from an early 4-day high of 92.26 against the Japanese yen, the loonie weakened to 91.40. The loonie is seen finding support around the 90.00 zone. At Thursday’s close, the pair was worth 91.95.
The Bank of Japan kept its massive stimulus unchanged, as expected by economists.
The post-meeting policy statement showed that the Monetary Policy Board of the BoJ governed by Haruhiko Kuroda decided by an 8-1 majority vote to maintain its target of raising the monetary base at an annual pace of about JPY 80 trillion.
The loonie, having advanced to a 2-day high of 1.3127 against the greenback at 6:45 am ET, reversed direction with the pair trading at 1.3193. On the downside, the loonie is likely to target support around the 1.33 mark. The pair was valued at 1.3171 when it closed yesterday’s trading.
Report from the Commerce Department revealed that personal income and spending saw modest increases in the month of September, although the upticks came in below economist estimates.
The report said personal income inched up by 0.1 percent in September after climbing by an upwardly revised 0.4 percent in August.
Extending early weakness, the loonie dipped to a 2-day low of 1.4528 against the euro. This is a 0.46 percent decline from yesterday’s closing quote of 1.4458. Continuation of the loonie’s downtrend may lead it to a support around the 1.47 mark.
Preliminary figures from Eurostat revealed that the consumer price index remained unchanged from the same month a year ago, after declining 0.1 percent in September. The outcome was in line with economists’ expectations.
However, the loonie remained almost steady against the aussie, after falling to 0.9375 at 2:45 am ET. The aussie-loonie pair ended yesterday’s trading at 0.9312.
Final demand producer prices in Australia were up 0.9 percent on quarter in the third quarter of 2015, following the 0.3 percent gain in Q2, according to a report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
On a yearly basis, prices climbed 1.7 percent – accelerating from 1.1 percent in the three months prior.
Looking ahead, the University of Michigan’s final U.S. consumer sentiment index for October, U.S. Chicago PMI for October and U.S. Baker Hughes rig count data are set to be announced shortly.
At 10:00 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco President John Williams will deliver a speech titled “Measuring the Natural Rate of Interest” at the Brookings Institution, in Washington DC.
Subsequently, at 11:25 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City President Esther George is expected to speak on “Federal Reserve Structure” before the City Age “The New American City” Conference, in Kansas City.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com