– S&P500 futures point to positive day on Wall Street
– Gold prices flirt with $3500.00
– US dollar grinding out gains.
USDCAD: open 1.3839, range Fri.-Mon. 1.3793-1.3847, close 1.3842, WTI 63.51, Gold 3455.13
The Canadian dollar is giving back yesterday’s gains as traders book some profits. The rally is entirely a US dollar story as it is Trump and his ever-shifting tariff policy that has unsettle global markets.
US recession fears have risen to around 60% according to JPMorgan analysts on April 4, and nothing has changed since. The US announced a 3,521% tariff on solar products from Cambodia and a 395% tariff on those same products from Vietnam.
Meanwhile Trump is still raging at Fed Chair Jerome Powell and the Fed. Yesterday, Trump took to his TruthSocial account to say ““Preemptive Cuts” in Interest Rates are being called for by many. With Energy Costs way down, food prices (including Biden’s egg disaster!) substantially lower, and most other “things” trending down, there is virtually No Inflation. With these costs trending so nicely downward, just what I predicted they would do, there can almost be no inflation, but there can be a SLOWING of the economy unless Mr. Too Late, a major loser, lowers interest rates, NOW. Europe has already “lowered” seven times. Powell has always been “Too Late,” except when it came to the Election period when he lowered in order to help Sleepy Joe Biden, later Kamala, get elected. How did that work out?”
Gold prices benefitted from Trump’s rant and flirted with $3500 before easing down to the 3455 at the NY open.
EURUSD traded in a 1.1482-1.1548 range and punched through the 1.1500 ceiling, climbing to its highest level since February 1, 2022. The rally has traders eyeing the 1.2000 mark, though further gains could be bumpy given the ECB’s ongoing easing bias. A decisive move below 1.1470 would expose downside risk toward 1.1395.
GBPUSD ranged between 1.3362 and 1.3424 and is giving back some of Monday’s momentum on profit-taking flows. The pullback followed remarks by BoE’s Megan Greene, who took a swipe at Trump’s meddling in Fed policy and his threats to oust Jerome Powell, warning that undermining central bank independence complicates the inflation fight.
USDJPY moved within a 139.89-141.17 band. The pair extended its slide amid safe-haven yen demand spurred by Trump’s attacks on Powell. A Reuters report suggested Japan will resist US pressure to strengthen its currency. USDJPY had closed Friday at 142.22 and opened Monday at 141.50, creating a gap that may soon be closed.
AUDUSD traded in a 0.6399-0.6440 band, notching a fresh 2025 peak before slipping to the session low. Market direction continues to hinge on broad greenback sentiment and developments in the US-China trade dynamic
Today’s Canadian data includes Industrial Product Prices and Raw Materials Product price indexes.