​VBCE Daily Foreign Exchange Update for Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017

USDCAD spot rate: 1.3260 - 1.3265 (as at 8:15am PST)

Technical Support / Resistance:

Key Economic Data Releases:

- US ADP employment change 153k (170k exp.) 215k previous

- US Initial Jobless Claims 235k (260k exp.) 263k previous

- ISM non-mfg PMI 57.2 (56.6 exp.) 57.2 previous

Key Event Calendar:

World stocks hit their highest level since mid-2015 on Thursday after strong Chinese data added to the optimism about global growth and inflation that has been driving markets since the start of the new year.

Growth in China's services sector accelerated to a 17-month high in December, a private sector survey showed, adding to upbeat factory and service sector surveys out of the United States, Europe and Asia released this week. In addition, minutes from the U.S. Federal Reserve's December meeting showed that many of the central bank's policy makers are expecting a pick-up in economic growth and inflation in the world's biggest economy as a result of fiscal, regulatory or other policies. The MSCI world equity index, which tracks shares in 46 countries, was up 0.4 per cent at one stage to hit its highest level since July 2015. At that level it was up over 1.5 per cent for the year so far. The index was pushed up by Asian shares, which rose for the eighth consecutive day on Thursday. Currently, the TSX is up 0.48% and the DOW is down 0.19% . The EUR is up 0.32% trading between 1.3947 and 1.4037. GBP is down 0.15% trading between 1.6318 and 1.6399. JPYCAD is up 0.25% trading between 0.01134 and 0.01146. Gold is up 1.25% trading between $1,163 and $1,180USD/oz., silver is up 1.52% trading between $16.42 and $16.70USD/oz., while oil is up 1.32% trading between $53.07 and $54.09