Forex - USD/CAD weekly outlook: April 15 - 19

Investing.com - The Canadian dollar was lower against the U.S. dollar on Friday as weak economic data out of the U.S. sparked fears over the outlook for growth, bolstering safe haven demand.

USD/CAD hit session highs of 0.0146, before settling at 1.0136, up 0.31% for the day and 0.32% lower for the week.

The pair is likely to find support at 1.0082, Thursday’s low and a two-month low and resistance at 1.0175, the high of April 9.

The greenback strengthened against the Canadian dollar after official data showed that U.S. retail sales fell 0.4% in March, the largest decline in nine months and missing expectations for a 0.1% increase.

A separate report showed that the preliminary reading of the University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 72.3 in April, the lowest level since July, from a final reading of 78.6 in March.

Earlier In the week, the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s March meeting showed that several policymakers favored an early end to the bank’s asset purchase program.

The Fed minutes, which were inadvertently released ahead of schedule, showed that that a few policymakers saw quantitative easing tapering around midyear, while several others believed it would be appropriate to slow later in the year and to stop by the end of the year.

However, the impact of the minutes was muted as the meeting was held before nonfarm payrolls data showed that the U.S. economy added far fewer than expected jobs in March.

In the coming week, the U.S. is to publish a broad range of economic data, with reports on manufacturing activity, the housing sector and inflation due for release. Investors will be closely watching this data as they attempt to gauge the strength of the U.S. recovery.

In addition, markets will be looking ahead to Canadian data on inflation, manufacturing sales and the outcome of the Bank of Canada’s policy meeting on Wednesday.

Ahead of the coming week, Investing.com has compiled a list of these and other significant events likely to affect the markets.

Monday, April 15

The U.S. is to publish data on manufacturing activity in New York state, a leading economic indicator.

Tuesday, April 16

Canada is to produce official data on manufacturing sales, as well as data on foreign securities purchases.

The U.S. is to publish official data on building permits, an excellent indicator of future construction activity and on housing starts. The U.S. is also to release data on consumer inflation, industrial production and the capacity utilization rate.

Wednesday, April 17

The BoC is to announce its benchmark interest rate. The announcement is to be accompanied by the bank’s monetary policy report, which contains important insights into the economic outlook. The central bank is to hold a press conference to discuss the monetary policy decision after the rate announcement.

Thursday, April 18

The U.S. is to release the weekly government report on initial jobless claims as well as data on manufacturing activity in Philadelphia.

Friday, April 19

Canada is to produce official data on consumer inflation, as well as a report on wholesale sales, a leading indicator of consumer spending.