- US weekly jobless claims are better than expected
- Sterling drops as trades reprice BoE rate hikes
- US dollar continues to trade defensive.
USDCAD: open 1.3162-66, overnight range 1.3121-1.3171, close 1.3164, WTI 75.67, Gold $1980.97
The Canadian dollar’s direction is heavily influenced by the current sentiment surrounding the US dollar, which is being shaped by Wall Street's quarterly earnings reports and speculation about the Federal Reserve's monetary policy intentions.
Since its peak on Tuesday following the Canadian inflation report, USDCAD has been gradually declining, falling from 1.3238 to 1.3121 during the European overnight session. However, it retraced the entire meeting post-US data.
Traders involved with USDCAD appear hesitant to take significant actions and seem content to wait until next week's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting before making any major moves.
In other market news, US weekly jobless claims were better than expected, falling by 9,000 to 228,000 last week, providing positive news for analysts who believe that despite high interest rates, the US economy will avoid a recession this year.
However, not everything is optimistic. The Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index was -13.5 (forecasted -10), indicating that the Fed's rate hikes are taking a toll. Wall Street's stocks opened on a mixed note.
EURUSD is trading defensively and has fallen from 1.1273 on Tuesday to 1.1173 in New York today. The euro suffered after yesterday's UK employment data negatively impacted GBPUSD. Furthermore, somewhat dovish comments from an ECB official, along with weaker than expected German producer prices data, have raised doubts about the ECB's hawkishness at their next meeting.
GBPUSD fell to 1.2856 from 1.2963, extending its losses from Thursday following weaker than expected inflation data. Traders now believe that the Bank of England will adopt a less hawkish stance, leading them to lower their estimates for the peak interest rate to 5.75% from 6.5%.
USDJPY rallied from 139.12 to 139.93, supported by comments from BoJ Governor Kazuo Ueda, who reiterated the need for the central bank's ultra-easy monetary policy.
In the Australian market, AUDUSD rallied from 0.6767 to 0.6845 after a strong employment report. Australia gained 39,600 new jobs in June (previously 69,200), while the unemployment rate ticked down to 3.5% from 3.6%.
Market updates for the Bank of China Fix show an expected rate of 7.2233, compared to the previous rate of 7.1486. Meanwhile, the Shanghai Shenzhen CSI 300 fell 0.71% to 3823.69.PBoC and State Banks intervene to buy CNY and CNY and sell US dollars.
PboC leaves rates unchanged. 1-Year Loan Prime Rate 3.55% (Prev. 3.55%), 5-Year Loan Prime Rate 4.20% vs (Prev. 4.20%).
