The Canadian dollar is showing little movement in the Monday session. Currently, the pair is trading at 1.3423, up 0.04% on the day. In the U.S., retail sales rebounded in February. Core retail sales sparkled with a 0.9% gain, up from -1.8% in January. Retail sales improved to 0.2%, compared to -1.2% in the previous release. Both indicators beat their estimates. There are no Canadian events until Thursday. On Tuesday, the U.S. releases CPI numbers.
Canada and the U.S. both ended the week with key employment numbers, albeit with very different results. Canada added 55.9 thousand, crushing the estimate of 0.6 thousand. In the U.S., nonfarm payrolls plunged to 20 thousand, much worse than the forecast of 180 thousand. Wage growth improved to 0.4%, above the estimate of 0.3%. The Canadian dollar responded with slight gains on Friday, after rolling off five six losing sessions.
There were no surprises from the Bank of Canada last week. The bank stayed on the sidelines and maintained the benchmark rate at 1.75%, where rates have been pegged since October. The rate statement was dovish, as policymakers dropped a reference to rates rising over time. Instead, the bank said that the economy will continue to require stimulus and said that there was “increased uncertainty” about future rate hikes. The pessimistic language is a result of the economic slowdown, which has been worse than the bank anticipated. The BoC’s dovish tone has reinforced market expectations that the bank will not raise rates in the near future, and could lower rates if the economy continues to weaken. Canada’s GDP contracted by 0.1% in November and December, and another decline could send the Canadian dollar even lower.
