With the US and Canada having both registered some unwanted economic data scores, the US Dollar to Canadian Dollar exchange rate has fluctuated throughout the day.
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is currently trending in the region of 1.0988.
As trader speculation of a near-future rate hike puts pressure on the Federal Reserve the US Dollar has enjoyed a bullish run against many of its major competitors. A report by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco indicated that economists are underestimating the pace in which they are willing to hike interest rates.
With a lack of meaningful data over the course of the week there has been little to curtail the uptrend, but akin to the straw that broke the camel’s back, the combination of several negative low level data publications put a ceiling on the surge.
On Tuesday Job Openings, Short-Term Crude Outlook, Short-Term Diesel Outlook, Short-Time Ht Oil Outlook, Short-Term Mogas Outlook and Short-Term NatGas Outlook all fell from the previous figures.
The Canadian Dollar has suffered fairly heavy losses from the recent cut commodity prices. Tuesday’s data didn’t improve matters. Housing Starts fell from 199,800 to 192,400.
The USD to CAD exchange rate has hit a low today of 1.0988.
Wednesday has seen the ‘Greenback’ (USD) to ‘Loonie’ (CAD) exchange rate fluctuate as both economies suffered from negative data results. US MBA Mortgage Applications contracted by -7.2% having shown a 0.2% growth previously.
The Canadian Capacity Utilization Rate was expected to hit 82.9% in the second quarter but the actual data came out at 82.7%.
US Dollar to Canadian Dollar Forecast to Strengthen on Rate Hike Bets
As time goes on the pressure for the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates and abolish the quantitative easing stimulus mounts. Given the comments from the San Francisco Fed it is likely that they will succumb to those pressures sooner-than-anticipated.
The US economy may also gain some strength from the Australian drought which has affected around 29% of their cotton production and amped up demand for US cotton.
Thursday’s US domestic data will also be of consequence in terms of the pressure on the Fed to raise interest rates. Both Continuing Claims and Initial Jobless Claims are expected to improve upon their previous figures. Should this be the case the US Dollar is likely to experience yet another bullish run.
Thursday’s Canadian domestic data is likely to spark change for the ‘Loonie’. The New Housing Price Index is predicted to rise from the previous percentage of 1.5% to 1.6%.
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar exchange rate has reached a high today of 1.1011.
UPDATE
The US Dollar to Canadian Dollar exchange rate is currently trending in the region of 1.1026.
The Canadian Dollar has softened against the ‘Buck’ (USD) on Thursday despite US labour data achieving lower-than-expected results.
US Continuing Claims may have beaten the forecast figure of 24,900, with the actual data resulting in 24,870 unemployed, but this is still an increase from the previous figure of 24,780. Initial Jobless Claims also showed an unwanted gain from the previous figure of 304,000 to 315,000 despite market consensus of a decline to 300,000.
Canadian data was also relatively negative on Thursday. The New House Price Index was forecast to show a growth of 1.6%, having increased by 1.5% previously, but the actual result was a cool growth of 1.4%. This was due to July’s New Housing Price Index producing a flat line figure despite having been forecast for a 0.2% increase.
