CAD remains quiet ahead of tomorrow’s retail sales data

Key Movers

The US Dollar Index (DXY) rallied slightly so far today after dipping to 3-month lows yesterday. The DXY sat near the 104.04 level this morning. This slight rise came despite Unemployment claims being released at higher-than-expected levels. Unemployment claims, which measures how many people are out of work, came in at 243,000 instead of the forecasted 229,000 and previous 223,000. In other data news, the Philadelphia Fed Manufacturing Index came in at 13.9, far above the forecasted 2.7. This was the sixth straight month that manufacturing activity expanded overall, indicating an overall increase in employment levels. The Conference Board also release data through the monthly Leading Economic Index (LEI). This index measures the health of the US economy and anticipates turning points in the business cycle. The LEI declined just 0.2%, an improvement from the previous reading of -0.4%, showing a smaller contraction in economic health than the last 3 months.

Data released in the UK showed the Claimant Count Change came in worse than expected at 32,300 versus the forecasted 23,400. This data measures the change in the number of unemployed people in the UK during the reported month. UK Average Earnings Index came in at 5.7%, matching forecasts and dropping only slightly from the previous level of 5.9%. The GBP/USD pair dropped by around -0.27% so far today to the 1.2974 range.

In Eurozone news, the European Central Bank (ECB) held the interest rate at 4.25% as expected. ECB president Christine Lagarde stated that “today’s decision was unanimous; September is ‘wide open.’” The EUR/USD pair has dropped by around -0.25% today to the 1.09011 level.