Canadian Dollar hits 7 months high against the Greenback

Last week saw the Dollar retreat on most fronts. The week ended with the USD down 2.07% against the Euro and down 2.25% against the GBP. The week ahead will be dominated by US announcements, chief amongst them being the American Fed rate decision, due out on Tuesday at 18:15 GMT. An absence of job growth and few signs of inflation are reasons why Federal Reserve policy makers may decide to keep interest rates near zero.

Later today at 1300 GMT the Treasury International Capital Long Term Purchases report will be announced. This gauge represents the difference between foreign investments in the US and US investments abroad and shows foreign confidence in the US economy. The figure leaped to $126 billion two months ago, but was then cut to half. This time, it’s expected to stand at $38 billion.
In Canada, the outlook was positive as more jobs than expected were created in February and the jobless rate fell to a 10-month low, cementing Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s view that the economic recovery is under way. The Canadian dollar surged after the report, strengthening to its highest level since July 2008-the Lonnie closed trading standing at $1.0191 against the USD on Friday. Employment rose by 20,900 last month, the fifth gain in seven months, Statistics Canada said. The rate of unemployment fell to 8.2 percent.

Over the weekend both the US and Canada moved in to daylight saving time. This is expected to have a significant impact on the forex online market for the next two weeks as the major sessions between the US and the UK will overlap for five hours a day instead of four. During this time traders will have less time to react to data released in the British market before US data is released and can expect to see increased levels of volatility in the market.