Summary:
- CAD falls back after CPI Y/Y rises less than forecast
- Oil slides after Trump tweet takes aim at OPEC
- Ripple makes double-digit surge
- GBP falls further following Carney speech
The main economic data this afternoon came from Canada with the release of the latest inflation and consumer spending figures. The CPI Y/Y for March rose by less than expected in increasing to 2.3% from 2.2% previously, with the consensus forecast calling for a 2.4% print. Whilst there was a small pick-up in retail sales this has come as another negative shock for CAD following the BOC on Wednesday and the Loonie has fallen lower since the release.
The price of Oil has taken another turn lower today after a tweet from Donald Trump saw the market flooded with selling pressure. The market fell swiftly below the $73 handle and now trades back near the level seen on Wednesday ahead of the DOE report. The US president took to Twitter to blame OPEC for what he calls a “artificially very high” oil price and Oil has fallen back to trade little changed on the week.
It’s been a good week for cryptocurrencies with Bitcoin set to post its first back-to-back weekly gains of the year. Today, Ripple has outshone its bigger brother with the market rallying strongly and rising over 10%. Price has now early double in just over 2 weeks and crypto bulls will be hoping that the slump is coming to an end.
In the FX space GBP has come under more selling pressure at the end of what has been a bad week for fundamental developments concerning the pound. A trio of negative data points in below forecast wage growth, CPI dropping more than expected and a large slump in retail sales have all weighed no sterling but arguably the biggest blow came last night from Governor Carney. The head of the BOE was fairly cautious when talking about further interest rate hike and after being assigned an 80% probability in the markets that there would be a hike at next month’s meeting, it is now odds-on that they remain unchanged.