The Canadian dollar is lower on Tuesday trading after the Prime Minister of the UK Theresa May called for a snap election. Oil prices have dropped ahead of tomorrow’s release of crude inventories with the consensus that shale production will have caused a buildup putting downward pressure on energy prices. Geopolitical risk continues to rattle markets with the news of the UK snap election and the upcoming French elections to kick off this weekend with the first round of voting.
Canadian resale housing data was published by the Canadian Real Estate Association shows a 1.1 percent rise in March with prices rising 18.6 percent year over year once again putting Toronto in the spotlight as the rest of the country cools down. Ontario officials will meet later in the day as voters are demanding a similar 15 tax increase to foreign buyers like the one imposed in Vancouver.
The USD/CAD gained 0.534 in the last 24 hours. The pair is trading at 1.3358 after the loonie depreciated on the back of falling oil prices. Economic data in the US economy has been mixed with a drop in housing starts that was offset by a rise in the expected number of building permits. Yesterday’s US Empire State Manufacturing Index set a pessimistic tone for the week coming well below the forecast at 5.2.
February marked a record high of foreign investment in Canadian securities came as non-resident bought $35.87 billion as part of corporate takeovers and mergers.
Energy prices lost 0.839 percent in the last 24 hours. The price of West Texas is trading at $52.46 ahead of the release of US crude inventories by the Energy Information Administration (EIA). The US is expected to have increased its output of shale oil as production ramped up as the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) agreement to cut member production got under way in 2017.
This weekend the OPEC membership will meet with the extension of the production cut agreement sure to be included in the agenda. Members and non-members for the most part have complied with the reduction. Russia is singled out as falling behind in the expected levels, while Saudi Arabia has gone the extra mile and cut above the agreed levels to bring the overall production down.
Market events to watch this week:
Wednesday, April 19
- 10:30am USD Crude Oil Inventories
Thursday, April 20
- 8:30am USD Philly Fed Manufacturing Index
- 8:30am USD Unemployment Claims
- 11:30am GBP BOE Gov Carney Speaks
- 12:30pm GBP BOE Gov Carney Speaks
- 1:15pm USD Treasury Sec Mnuchin Speaks
Friday, April 21
- 4:30am GBP Retail Sales m/m
- 8:30am CAD CPI m/m
Saturday, April 22
- All Day OPEC Meeting
Sunday, April 23
- All Day French Elections
*All times EDT
