The Canadian dollar is weakening against most major currency competitors to close out the trading week. Despite retail sales coming in stronger than expected and inflation matching market expectations, the loonie’s decline could still be driven by the central bank leaving interest rates unchanged. Is the market signaling that a rate cut is needed to resuscitate economic growth?
The Mexican peso is weakening against several currencies on Thursday as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) cut its growth projections for the country. This comes as the unemployment rate fell last month to its lowest level in nearly two years and inflation came higher than expected.
The Chinese yuan is trading relatively flat against a myriad of currency rivals midweek as the nation’s virus outbreak has triggered economic growth concerns. After last week’s better-than-expected gross domestic product (GDP) figures and the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s optimistic forecast, the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus could throw a wrench into the country’s plans to rebound from its slump.
The Japanese yen is mixed on Tuesday after the central bank announced that it was leaving interest rates unchanged and raising its economic growth forecasts for 2020 and 2021. Tokyo also reported disappointing industrial production and capacity utilization data, despite the federal government spending billions in stimulus.
The Chinese yuan is strengthening against most major currency rivals to close out the trading week, driven by a better-than-expected reading of the world’s second-largest economy in the fourth quarter. But the various economic reports on Friday highlighted across-the-board improvements, which could signal that Beijing may be on track for a rebound in 2020, especially with the US and China declaring a trade truce.
The New Zealand dollar rallied intraday despite underwhelming domestic macroeconomic data. One of the possible reasons for the rally was macroeconomic data in China, which showed that the economic growth of the Asian nation stabilized in the last quarter of 2019. Currently, though, the New Zealand currency has lost its gains versus most rivals, except for European majors. The kiwi was trading about flat against the euro and the Great Britain pound.
The euro today rallied higher against the US dollar driven by upbeat investor risk sentiment in anticipation of the US-China phase one trade deal signing later today. The EUR/USD currency pair’s rally was also spurred by investor expectations that the European Central Bank could turn hawkish in the medium-term after a strategic review.
The Chinese yuan is falling against several major currency competitors on Tuesday, despite positive trade data that suggest the US-China trade dispute winding down is proving already to be bullish for Beijing. The December numbers are beginning to roll in, and so far, it is good news for the world’s second-largest economy.
The Canadian dollar is trading a bit lower against multiple currency competitors to start the trading week, driven by a recent string of disappointing economic numbers, including a surprising economic contraction in October. The loonie has still been one of the best-performing currencies among G20 nations, but anemic growth could affect its performance heading into 2020.
The Swedish krona fell a little against the strong currencies like the US dollar and the Great Britain pound but jumped versus the vulnerable euro today. Yesterday, the currency rallied thanks to the much-anticipated interest rate hike from Sweden’s central bank.
