Economic data has aggressively disappointed consensus for much of 2018. The Citi Economic Surprise Index for Canada has consistently fallen through Q2, and in so doing has hit the lowest levels (meaning aggressive disappointments to economist’s expectations) since May 2013.
Despite the weakening data, not all is bad. Oil is on the rise as it recently touched the highest levels since 2014. The rise in oil has helped, but it has not been enough to prevent Canadian 2 year yields trade at their sharpest discount to the US equivalent.
BoC chief Stephen Poloz stated that the central bank retains expectations for higher borrowing costs in the economy, which caused the implied probability of an interest rate hike in July per the Overnight Index Swaps market at ~75%. Before Poloz’s speech, the market was pricing in a ~55% chance.
Data source: Bloomberg
Chart Source: IG Charting Package, IG UK Price Feed. Created by Tyler Yell, CMT
The chart above shows the continuation of US Dollar strength against the Canadian Dollar in impressive fashion. Yet, the Canadian Dollar is the best performing G10 currency against the US Dollar in Q2 having only fallen by 2.6% QTD.
Short-term traders should keep an eye on 1.3250, which is a short-term double-top neckline for USD/CAD. A close below would open up a move toward 1.3140, which roughly aligns with the high in May and potential polarity point on the chart.
Above 1.3100, the market looks rip to test C$1.3423, which is the 78.6% retracement of the 2017 range.
Are you looking for longer-term analysis on the U.S. Dollar? OurDailyFX Forecasts for Q2 have a section for eachmajor currency, and we also offeran excess of resources on USD-pairs such as EUR/USD, GBP/USD, USD/JPY, AUD/USD. Traders can also stay up with near-term positioning via ourpopular and free IG Client Sentiment Indicator.
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---Written byTyler Yell, CMT
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