USD/CAD is firmer on the day, presently up at 1.2875 having opened in Europe down around 1.2780. The canadian dollar hasn’t been helped by the increase in risk aversion evident today. There has been palpable disappointment that the Chinese didn’t serve up another big fat juicy stimulus package overnight, while comments from General Motors that there is substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern have further dented sentiment. On top of that, almost all economic data coming out at present is poor. Sources also report that the Bank for International Settlemenrts (BIS) has been an active buyer of the USD/CAD pairing today, not helping the CAD’s cause. I’m sure there are other factors at play, but they’re a few to be getting on with.
Earlier data showed that Canadian January building permits fell 4.6% in January from December due to plummeting demand for housing projects. While the number was bad, it wasn’t as bad as some had feared, the median forecast having called for a -5.0% decline.
