The Canadian economy grew by 0.1% in March but only 1.2% in Q1 (annualized). Q4 2013 growth was revised down from 2.9% to 2.7%. Canada was expected to report a growth rate of 0.1% in March, and a an annualized growth rate of 1.8% in Q1 as a whole. In February, the nation saw an advance of 0.2% in GDP. The RMPI was expected to rise by 0.4%. This disappointed as well with a gain of only 0.1%.
USD/CAD was trading on low ground, around 1.0835, after seeing even lower levels earlier. The pair is now around 1.0860. –more coming —
At the same time, the US released some second tier data, which mostly came out as expected.
The loonie is gradually recovering from a very bad start to the year, which saw USD/CAD climb above 1.12. Recent positive employment data was one of the catalysts for the recovery.
Next week, Canada releases jobs data. For more on the C$, see the Canadian dollar forecast.
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