Daily foreign exchange rates for our top 10 currencies & Update #forex #Vancouver April 18, 2018

USDCAD spot rate: 1.2595 - 1.2600 (as at 8:12am PST)

Technical Support / Resistance:

Key Economic Data Releases:

- Bank of Canada interest rate:1.25 % (exp 1.25% / prev 1.25%)

https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2018/04/fad-press-release-2018-04-18/

- EIA crude oil change: -1,071k (exp 650k / prev 3,306k)

Event Calendar:

Yesterday, USDCAD initially held a 1.2550 – 1.2580 range before falling to 1.2525 in North American trade – a new 2 month low. The pairing eased back up to hold near 1.2555 for the balance of the session. There was a correction up towards 1.2600 overnight before a pull-back towards 1.2545 ahead of the Bank of Canada interest rate announcement. The BOC left rates unchanged at 1.25% (markets were pricing in a 20% chance of a rate hike) The BOC mentioned that Q1 growth had been weaker than expected (1.3% vs. 2.5%) and that growth was expected to rebound to 2.5% in Q2. Although 2018 growth was revised lower from 2.2% to 2.0%, 2019 growth was revised higher from 1.6% to 2.1%. The BOC confirms progress on inflation and wage growth reinforcing the need for higher interest rates over time. The initial reaction took USDCAD up to a 1 week high of 1.2635 before retracing to 1.2580. We now await the BOC press conference at 8:15 for further clues. Currently, the TSX and the DJIA are up 1.14% and 0.10% respectively. EURCAD is up 0.40% trading between 1.5530 and 1.5648. GBPCAD is down 0.20% trading between 1.7840 and 1.7998. JPYCAD is unchanged trading between 0.01170 and 0.01178. Gold is up 0.35% trading between $1,342 and $1,355USD/oz., silver is up 2.6% trading between $16.72 and $17.25USD/oz., while oil is up 2.3% trading between $66.56 and $68.45 – a new 3.5 year high.

Sources: Reuters, Bloomberg, FXStreet, RBC Capital Markets, Bank of Canada, U.S. Federal Reserve, CNBC, Forexlive, CME Group