Currency Movements | A huge week for the Canadian dollar this week. The Loonie made swell gains against the USD, finishing the week at 1.2278 (+1.80%). The CAD smashed through pre-pandemic strength, sitting now at its strongest level since April 2015!
A combination of dollar weakness, local economic data and oil prices slingshotted the CAD sky high! Firstly, retail sales increased by 4.8% month-over-month in February, with annual growth at 6.0% year-over-year. On the oil front, the West Texas Intermediate oil rose to $65.01/barrel, increasing by 33% since the end of 2020.
The oil price action is supported by expectations that the U.S. fiscal stimulus will drive a global economic boom, which will increase oil demand. The positive progress of the vaccine implementation in developed economies also collaborates to confirm this outlook.
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Macroeconomic Data Front |
February’s GDP MoM was released today, which saw a small dip to 0.4% from 0.7% the month prior.
February’s Average Weekly Earnings YoY (gross taxable payroll divided by total employees) was posted on Thursday 29th April. The rate came in at 9% which reflects a decent wage growth for the period - its highest since June 2020.
February’s Retail Sales MoM was posted on Wednesday 28th April at 4.8%. A strong improvement from the previous 7 months which averaged a growth rate of -0.08%.
Next Week’s Data |
April’s Markit Manufacturing PMI (due 03 MAY)
March’s Balance of Trade (due 04 MAY)
March’s Building Permits MoM (due 04 MAY)
April’s Unemployment Rate (due 07 MAY)
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