- Canadian Dollar trapped near familiar levels, gives mixed performance.
- Canada absent from the economic calendar until next week’s GDP.
- US GDP comes in soft, but PCE hints at still high inflation.
The Canadian Dollar (CAD) spread on Thursday, giving a mixed performance and sticking close to familiar technical levels after US data printed in both directions early in the US market session. US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) eased more than expected, a boon for investors looking for rate cuts from the US Federal Reserve (Fed). However, inflation continues to be a major sticking point for rate cut hopes after US Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE) inflation climbed even higher than expected.
Canada is absent from the economic calendar for the remainder of the trading week. The next piece of useful Canadian economic data will be next Tuesday’s Canadian MoM GDP for February. Canada’s S&P Global Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) will also print next Wednesday.
Daily digest market movers: Canadian Dollar lacks momentum after US data fails to deliver clean picture
- Annualized US GDP for the first quarter eased to 1.6%, declining from the previous 3.4% and falling well short of the forecast of 2.5%.
- Read more: US GDP expands less that expected in Q1
- Rapidly slowing GDP is a welcome boon for investors desperate for rate cuts from Fed. However, US PCE inflation in Q1 rose to 3.7%, vaulting over forecast of 3.4% and accelerating from previous 2.0%.
- Rising inflation will keep Fed hobbled on rate cuts, markets churn on mixed print.
- Friday’s US PCE Price Index will draw additional attention after Thursday’s gloomy bellwether.
- March’s MoM US PCE Price Index is expected to hold steady at 0.3%, while the YoY figure is expected to tick down to 2.6% from 2.8%.
Canadian Dollar price today
The table below shows the percentage change of Canadian Dollar (CAD) against listed major currencies today. Canadian Dollar was the strongest against the Japanese Yen.
| USD | EUR | GBP | CAD | AUD | JPY | NZD | CHF | |
| USD | -0.15% | -0.24% | -0.06% | -0.10% | 0.22% | 0.00% | -0.04% | |
| EUR | 0.17% | -0.05% | 0.11% | 0.07% | 0.39% | 0.16% | 0.13% | |
| GBP | 0.23% | 0.08% | 0.17% | 0.15% | 0.47% | 0.21% | 0.20% | |
| CAD | 0.11% | -0.06% | -0.13% | -0.01% | 0.30% | 0.09% | 0.05% | |
| AUD | 0.10% | -0.05% | -0.12% | 0.04% | 0.31% | 0.09% | 0.06% | |
| JPY | -0.21% | -0.35% | -0.44% | -0.28% | -0.31% | -0.22% | -0.26% | |
| NZD | 0.04% | -0.12% | -0.20% | -0.04% | -0.07% | 0.25% | 0.02% | |
| CHF | 0.04% | -0.12% | -0.20% | -0.04% | -0.05% | 0.28% | 0.01% |
The heat map shows percentage changes of major currencies against each other. The base currency is picked from the left column, while the quote currency is picked from the top row. For example, if you pick the Euro from the left column and move along the horizontal line to the Japanese Yen, the percentage change displayed in the box will represent EUR (base)/JPY (quote).
Technical analysis: Canadian Dollar trades steady but mixed
The Canadian Dollar (CAD) is getting pushed into the middle on Thursday, trading flat to within a quarter of a percent across the major currency board during the US market session. The CAD sees a meager tenth of a percent gain against the US Dollar (USD). The Japanese Yen (JPY) is down a quarter of a percent against the Canadian Dollar as the market’s worst-performing currency on the day.
The CAD continues to trade within a tight range near the 1.3700 handle against the US Dollar, and the USD/CAD has priced in a near-term price floor near 1.3660. A topside break is hampered by the 200-hour Exponential Moving Average (EMA) at 1.3710, and a heavy supply zone rests just below current price action below 1.3600.
USD/CAD hourly chart
USD/CAD daily chart![]()
GDP FAQs
A country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) measures the rate of growth of its economy over a given period of time, usually a quarter. The most reliable figures are those that compare GDP to the previous quarter e.g Q2 of 2023 vs Q1 of 2023, or to the same period in the previous year, e.g Q2 of 2023 vs Q2 of 2022. Annualized quarterly GDP figures extrapolate the growth rate of the quarter as if it were constant for the rest of the year. These can be misleading, however, if temporary shocks impact growth in one quarter but are unlikely to last all year – such as happened in the first quarter of 2020 at the outbreak of the covid pandemic, when growth plummeted.
A higher GDP result is generally positive for a nation’s currency as it reflects a growing economy, which is more likely to produce goods and services that can be exported, as well as attracting higher foreign investment. By the same token, when GDP falls it is usually negative for the currency. When an economy grows people tend to spend more, which leads to inflation. The country’s central bank then has to put up interest rates to combat the inflation with the side effect of attracting more capital inflows from global investors, thus helping the local currency appreciate.
When an economy grows and GDP is rising, people tend to spend more which leads to inflation. The country’s central bank then has to put up interest rates to combat the inflation. Higher interest rates are negative for Gold because they increase the opportunity-cost of holding Gold versus placing the money in a cash deposit account. Therefore, a higher GDP growth rate is usually a bearish factor for Gold price.
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