The Canadian dollar has continued to edge lower against its US counterpart since the start of the year, with the USD/CAD pair beginning the week around the 1.34 level, which is around its highest level since the middle of December. We are entering into a highly important couple of weeks for the Canadian dollar.
Tuesday’s inflation report will be a highly important one in guiding Bank of Canada interest rate expectations. Economists are pencilling in a monthly contraction in headline consumer prices (-0.3% consensus), which would be only the second negative print in the past year.
Retail sales data on Friday should also give policymakers a decent barometer as to how well consumer spending held up towards the end of last year, as we head into the January BoC meeting next Wednesday. No change in rates is seen, although the tone of the bank’s communications will held investors gauge whether we can expect a first cut as early as April, which is currently more than fully priced in by swaps.
