Canadian forex review: C$ firms with positive wholesale data
By Commodity News Service Canada
WINNIPEG, August 20 – The Canadian dollar firmed relative to the US currency on Thursday, reacting to positive Canadian wholesales sales data, analysts said.
According to Statistics Canada, Canadian wholesale trade was up 1.3 per cent in June, to C$55.32 billion dollars, beating expectations of a 1.0 per cent rise.
The Canadian dollar closed at US$0.7645 or US$1=C$1.3081 on Thursday, which compares with Wednesday’s North American settlement of US$0.7628 or US$1=C$1.3110.
Wednesday’s more dovish than expected comments from the US Federal Open market Committee were also underpinning the Canadian dollar.
However, ongoing worries about slow economic growth in Canada, Europe and China limited the upside, as did weakness in crude oil values.
Traders will be looking to Friday’s retail sales and consumer price index data from Statistics Canada to determine the loonie’s direction heading into the weekend.
Canadian bonds moved higher on Thursday, as investors moved their money into safe-haven assets amid ongoing worries about global economic problems, brokers said.
The two-year bond yielded 0.356% on Thursday, from 0.371% on Wednesday. The ten-year bond yield was at 1.293, from 1.318%. Bond yields fall as their prices rise.