Canadian Dollar eases despite stronger Retail Sales and rising Oil prices
- USD/CAD rebounds as the US Dollar regains momentum.
- Higher Oil prices provide only limited support for the Canadian Dollar.
- Canadian Retail Sales meet forecasts, while sales excluding autos fall short of expectations.
USD/CAD rebounds on Thursday as the US Dollar (USD) regains momentum amid rising tensions in the Middle East and growing Federal Reserve (Fed) rate hike bets, while traders show a muted reaction to Canadian Retail Sales data. At the time of writing, the pair trades around 1.4088, recovering from an intraday low of 1.4056.
Retail Sales rose 1.0% MoM in May, matching expectations and accelerating from a 0.4% increase in April. Retail Sales excluding autos climbed 1.2%, below the 1.4% forecast, after remaining flat in the previous month.
The United States and Iran exchanged attacks for a twelfth consecutive day, while supply disruptions around the Strait of Hormuz spread to the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. The threat to two major shipping routes pushed Oil prices higher, adding to global inflation concerns. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude trades near $89.90 per barrel, its highest level since June 11.
Higher Oil prices typically benefit the Canadian Dollar, given Canada’s position as a major crude exporter. However, the Loonie is struggling to draw meaningful support as firm US Dollar demand and diverging monetary policy expectations outweigh the boost from Oil.
Markets now see a 78% chance of a Fed rate hike in September, up from 52% a week ago, according to the CME FedWatch Tool. The Fed is widely expected to leave interest rates unchanged at next week’s meeting, although traders still price in around a 32% chance of an immediate hike.
The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback's value against a basket of six major currencies, is trading around 101.30, rebounding from an intraday low of 100.94.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada (BoC) is expected to keep interest rates unchanged in the coming months, as core inflation stays close to the central bank’s 2% target.
Canadian Dollar Price Today
The table below shows the percentage change of Canadian Dollar (CAD) against listed major currencies today. Canadian Dollar was the strongest against the New Zealand Dollar.
| USD | EUR | GBP | JPY | CAD | AUD | NZD | CHF | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| USD | 0.28% | 0.25% | 0.33% | 0.00% | 0.28% | 0.72% | 0.32% | |
| EUR | -0.28% | -0.02% | 0.04% | -0.29% | 0.00% | 0.45% | 0.04% | |
| GBP | -0.25% | 0.02% | 0.04% | -0.29% | 0.01% | 0.47% | 0.05% | |
| JPY | -0.33% | -0.04% | -0.04% | -0.32% | -0.05% | 0.39% | -0.01% | |
| CAD | -0.00% | 0.29% | 0.29% | 0.32% | 0.27% | 0.72% | 0.31% | |
| AUD | -0.28% | 0.00% | -0.01% | 0.05% | -0.27% | 0.46% | 0.06% | |
| NZD | -0.72% | -0.45% | -0.47% | -0.39% | -0.72% | -0.46% | -0.42% | |
| CHF | -0.32% | -0.04% | -0.05% | 0.01% | -0.31% | -0.06% | 0.42% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Canadian Dollar from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the US Dollar, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent CAD (base)/USD (quote).
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