After declining against the US Dollar for the past several days the ‘Loonie’ was able to claw back some ground after positive US and Canadian data.
The Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate was in the region of 0.9746 against the US Dollar as of 14:31 pm GMT
The Canadian Dollar posted a modest gain against its American counterpart after figures compiled by the Labour Department revealed that US jobless claims fell to within touching distance of a two-month low.
Although economists forecast an increase in US jobless claims, they actually dropped by 10,000 to 332,000 in the week ending March 9th. The four week moving average (a less volatile measure) also slid to a five-year low.
Meanwhile over in Canada the New Housing Price Index gained a modest 0.1 per cent in January, following on from Decembers 0.2 per cent gain.
Toronto, Oshawa and Calgary were the regions largely responsible for the advance.
In the twelve months to January the New Housing Price Index advanced by 2.2 per cent year on year.
As housing poses one of the most significant threats to the Canadian economy today’s fairly positive figures were a welcome and, in the wake of recent poorer data releases, much needed result.
In the immediate aftermath of the US and Canadian reports the ‘Loonie’ posted slight gains against most of its major currency rivals.
Investors will now be looking ahead to the next piece of Canadian housing data, tomorrow’s existing home sales figures.
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