Forex - USD/CAD remains lower after weak Canadian retail sales

Published 04/24/2012, 09:31 AM
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Investing.com - The U.S. dollar remained weaker against its Canadian counterpart on Tuesday, trading close to a three-day low, following the release of disappointing data on Canadian retail sales.

USD/CAD hit 0.9887 during early U.S. trade, the pair’s lowest since April 19; the pair subsequently consolidated at 0.9897, down 0.16%.

The pair was likely to find support at 0.9864, the low of April 17 and a two-month low and resistance at 0.9927, the session high.

Official data showed that Canadian retail sales declined for the first time in six months in February as new automobile sales fell sharply, while core retail sales rose less-than-expected.

Statistics Canada said retail sales fell by a seasonally adjusted 0.2% in February, confounding expectations for a 0.2% increase. Retail sales in January were revised to a 0.2% gain from a previously reported 0.5% increase.

Core retail sales, which exclude automobile sales, rose by a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in February, below expectations for a 1.0% increase.

In the U.S., industry data showed that home prices fell to the lowest level since 2002 in February.

Standard & Poor’s with Case-Shiller said its house price index fell at an annualized rate of 3.5% in February from a year earlier, compared to expectations for a 3.4% decline.

Month-on-month, U.S. home prices dipped 0.8% in February, worse than expectations for a modest 0.2% decline.  

Meanwhile, investors remained jittery amid ongoing concerns over the debt crisis in the euro zone following a raft of government debt auctions earlier in the day.

A closely watched auction of Dutch government debt met with solid investor demand, but fears that the country could lose its triple-A credit rating lingered following the collapse of the government on Monday.

Elsewhere, an auction of Spanish government bonds saw the country’s short-term borrowing costs almost double.

The loonie, as the Canadian dollar is also known, was slightly lower against the euro, with EUR/CAD edging up 0.09% to hit 1.3055.

Later in the day, the U.S. was to release a report on consumer confidence, as well as government data on new home sales.


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