Away from the Antipodes, USD/CAD fell over 80 pips after the release of Canadian GDP (2.4% vs. Exp. 2.0%, Prev. 2.8%) with gains led by consumer spending and an increase in business stockpiles. Of note, while this figure was better than analyst expectations, the release is below the BoC’s forecast of 2.5%, however this print alone is unlikely to shift the interest rate decision tomorrow, where just 5 out of 23 surveyed analysts expect a BoC cut.
Elsewhere, SEK has also seen notable strength today after a host of Riksbank speakers, with some hawkish rhetoric which combined with last week’s GDP figure to see EUR/SEK break the cross’ 200DMA to the downside to trade at its lowest level of 2015. Finally, TRY came under pressure today with participants expecting further rates cuts at the Turkish central bank's meeting on March 17th as a result of ongoing political pressure from the government who are unhappy with the bank's attempts to control inflation.
Towards the end of the session, USTs pared the day’s losses on the back of weakness in equities, leading to yields being less attractive, which saw outflows in USD, and thereby strength in JPY. This move continued the earlier move lower in USD/JPY, when overnight Japanese PM Abe’s adviser Honda suggested current levels in the pair are a kind of an upper limit in the exchange rate’s comfort zone
Looking ahead to tomorrow, as well as the aforementioned BoC rate decision, Australia are scheduled to release their GDP, there are a host of Services PMIs and US ADP Employment change from the US.
Recommended Content
Editors’ Picks
GBP/USD remains on the defensive below 1.2450 ahead of UK Retail Sales data
GBP/USD remains on the defensive near 1.2430 during the early Asian session on Friday. The downtick of the major pair is backed by the stronger US Dollar as the strong US economic data and hawkish remarks from the Fed officials have triggered the speculation that the US central bank will delay interest rate cuts to September.
EUR/USD extends its downside below 1.0650 on hawkish Fed remarks
The EUR/USD extends its downside around 1.0640 after retreating from weekly peaks of 1.0690 on Friday. The hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials provide some support to the US Dollar.
Gold: Middle East war fears spark fresh XAU/USD rally, will it sustain?
Gold price is trading close to $2,400 early Friday, reversing from a fresh five-day high reached at $2,418 earlier in the Asian session. Despite the pullback, Gold price remains on track to book the fifth weekly gain in a row.
Dogwifhat price pumps 5% ahead of possible Coinbase effect
Dogwifhat price recorded an uptick on Thursday, going as far as to outperform its peers in the meme coins space. Second only to Bonk Inu, WIF token’s show of strength was not just influenced by Bitcoin price reclaiming above $63,000.
Israel vs. Iran: Fear of escalation grips risk markets
Recent reports of an Israeli aerial bombardment targeting a key nuclear facility in central Isfahan have sparked a significant shift out of risk assets and into safe-haven investments.