Yesterday was a relatively calm day for North American currencies and particularly for the USD/CAD pairing, which traded within a 25-point range. The S&P 500 index closed the day in the red for the third session in a row, further to comments made by Fed members who are convinced that it will act (gradual tapering of the bond purchase program) on markets before the end of the year.
BlackBerry signed a tentative offer to sell its operations to a consortium led by Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited, which holds nearly 10% of the company’s shares. The bid made to the Canadian company is for $4.7 billion. The transaction is subject to the approval of Blackberry shareholders and other regulatory organizations. With BlackBerry struggling to stay alive, technology giant Apple sold a record number of its new iPhones on the weekend, and saw its stock climb by 5% during yesterday’s session.
In economic news today, Canadian retail sales figures for July will be released this morning; markets are forecasting a 0.5% growth, annualized basis, compared to the previous month's data. In the U.S., the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices and CB Consumer Confidence Index are also expected. Wishing you a great day! Rana Karim
Range of the day: 1.0255-1.0345