The Canadian dollar continues to gain ground in the Wednesday session, after posting sharp gains on Tuesday. In the North American session, USD/CAD is trading at 1.2845, down 0.24% on the day. On the release front, Canada will release GDP and the US publishes Personal Spending and unemployment claims.
It’s been an impressive turnaround for the Canadian dollar in mid-week, as the currency jumped 1.1% on Wednesday. The currency climbed on a positive view of the economy from the Bank of Canada. As expected, the bank maintained the benchmark rate at 1.25 percent. Inflation has moved closer to the BoC target of 2 percent and economic growth has been steady, so the BoC will be giving serious consideration to a rate hike this summer.
The markets continue to keep a close eye on the “on-again off-again” summit between the U.S and North Korean leaders. President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un are scheduled to meet in Singapore on June 12, but curiously, neither side will confirm whether the meeting is on. The White House has strongly hinted that the summit will take place, saying that the U.S continues to “actively prepare for President Trump’s expected summit with leader Kim in Singapore.” There is a flurry of activity around the summit – Trump has sent a team to Singapore and a senior North Korean official will meet with senior U.S officials on Wednesday. If Trump tweets out that the summit is on, investor sentiment could soar and boost the Canadian dollar.
USD/CAD Fundamentals
Thursday (May 31)
- 7:30 US Challenger Job Cuts. Actual -4.8%
- 8:30 US Core PCE Price Index. Estimate 0.1%
- 8:30 US Personal Spending. Estimate 0.4%
- 8:30 US Unemployment Claims. Estimate 228K
- 8:30 US Personal Income. Estimate 0.3%
- 9:45 US Chicago PMI. Estimate 58.2
- 10:00 US Pending Home Sales. Estimate 0.4%
- 10:30 US Natural Gas Storage. Estimate 100B
- 11:00 US Crude Oil Inventories. Estimate -0.4M
- 12:45 US FOMC Member Rafael Bostic Speaks
- 13:00 US FOMC Member Lael Brainard Speaks
Friday (June 1)
- 8:30 Canadian GDP. Estimate 0.2%
- 8:30 US Average Hourly Earnings. Estimate 0.2%
- 8:30 US Nonfarm Employment Change. Estimate 189K
- 8:30 US Unemployment Rate. Estimate 3.9%
- 10:00 US ISM Manufacturing PMI. Estimate 58.2
*All release times are DST
*Key events are in bold
USD/CAD for Thursday, May 31, 2018
USD/CAD, May 31 at 8:00 DST
Open: 1.2876 High: 1.2895 Low: 1.2818 Close: 1.2840
USD/CAD Technical
| S3 | S2 | S1 | R1 | R2 | R3 |
| 1.2544 | 1.2614 | 1.2757 | 1.2850 | 1.2943 | 1.3015 |
The Canadian dollar continues to break through support levels. USD/CAD ticked higher in the Asian session. The pair has posted losses in the European session
- 1.2757 is providing support
- 1.2850 is under pressure in resistance
- Current range: 1.2757 to 1.2850
Further levels in both directions:
- Below: 1.2850 and 1.2757, 1.2614 and 1.2544
- Above: 1.2850, 1.2943, 1.3015 and 1.3125
OANDA’s Open Positions Ratio
USD/CAD ratio continues to show movement towards long positions, consistent with the losses that USD/CAD has recorded on Wednesday. Currently, short positions have a majority (56%), indicative of trader bias towards USD/CAD continuing to move downwards.
- 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.
