USDCAD Chops Around

The USDCAD pair got shot lower during the course of trading on Friday as some weak data from the US and strong data from Canada helped to push the pair lower. But this lasted only for a brief while as developments over the NAFTA agreement brought further delays and this weakened the CAD to a great extent and pushed the pair back higher.

USDCAD Pushed Around

The NFP data from the US came in much weaker on Friday as it missed all the expectations. This set the trend for some weak and choppy data from the US. The dollar would have been hit hard but for the fact that the NFP data from the previous month was revised higher and this helped to salvage some pride for the dollar and helped it to survive. On the other hand, the CAD was boosted by some strong employment data which brought the rate hike back into focus. The BOC is generally a very hawkish central bank and it does not require a second invitation to push through with the rate hikes.

With this strong data, it is believed that the BOC would be pushed to act either in April or atleast by June and the bulls in the CAD would be hoping that it would be sooner rather than later. This helped to weaken the pair even further as it moved towards the 1.2720 region but the reports of likely delays in the NAFTA agreement helped the pair to recover and it now once again trades above the 1.28 region as of this writing.

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, we do not have any major economic news or data but the geopolitical news and developments are expected to keep the pair volatile in the short term. We expect the trading to be confined within a range during this period.