Traders were impatiently awaiting Ben Bernanke’s speech at the University of Michigan, in hopes of getting a clearer picture of the date for the end of the bond-buying program. Unfortunately, Bernanke remained vague on this issue, instead reiterating that the current stimulus must be maintained to help the U.S. economy get back on its feet. He also stated that he remains cautiously optimistic about the economic situation in the U.S. Markets barely reacted to his speech with the USD/CAD pairing maintaining the narrow 70-point range observed since January 5.
The next phase of uncertainty markets will focus on will be the U.S.’ debt ceiling. Essentially, experts expect this ceiling of 16.4 trillion will be reached around February 15 and if this limit is not increased, the U.S. will default on its payments. This will be the source of heated debates between republicans and the President. Remember that S&P had lowered the U.S. credit rating in the summer of 2011 over this same issue. Officials will need to act quickly to resolve their differences or history may repeat itself.
South of the border, Retail Sales and Industrial Product Price Index figures are expected today. In Canada, Existing Home Sales data will be released. Wishing you a great day.