- Canada expected to have gained 15,000 jobs in January.
- Lunar New Year holidays begin.
- USD traded sideways overnight and opens with a mixed tone.
USDCAD: open 1.3456-60, overnight range 1.3450-1.3467, close 1.3460, WTI $76.41, Gold, $2032.92
The Canadian dollar is grinding out gains ahead of the release of the January Labour Force Survey. The consensus forecast is that Canada created 15,000 new jobs, and that the unemployment rate rose to 5.9% from 5.8%. Unfortunately, Canadians who watch CTV may not learn of the results because its parent company, BCE, laid off 4,300 employees, closed TV stations, and cut news programming on those that are still open. The company said it was finding it tough to make ends meet on just $435 million/quarter, which is 5.3% higher than last year.
The Canadian dollar is also benefiting from an uptick in crude prices. West Texas Intermediate climbed to $76.61 from $73.58 yesterday. The 4.1% gain is attributed to the S&P Global Platts survey, which reported that Opec and non-Opec (Opec +) saw a combined 340,000 barrel/day drop in production in January. It should have been 700,000, but some members failed to honor their pledges. Oil traders focused on the news that total oil production for the group fell by the most in six months
EURUSD traded quietly in a 1.0762-1.0785 band. The single currency is modestly firmer because of the hawkish views espoused by ECB members recently that have pushed out the timing for a rate cut. EURUSD remains in an intraday downtrend channel (hourly chart) that began on January 3 and is intact while prices are below 1.0860.
GBPUSD continues to spin its wheels as it traded narrowly in a 1.2601-1.2635 range. There wasn't any UK data to inspire traders who are content to await next week's data dump, which includes the unemployment report on Tuesday, PPI, CPI, and Retail Price Index on Wednesday, and GDP on Thursday.
USDJPY is aiming for 150.00 again, with prices rising from 149.22 to 149.57 overnight due to the US 10-year Treasury yield ticking higher to 4.17%.
AUDUSD drifted higher in a 0.6487-0.6513 range. Traders lacked motivation due to ongoing Chinese economic weakness and because of reduced liquidity as the Lunar New Year holidays begin.
