- March 6, 2020
- Posted by: John Curran
- Category: Market News
Good morning,
Today’s employment data from both sides of the border exceeded predictions. The nonfarm payroll print for the month of February reported 273K from an estimate of 175K. The US unemployment rate is has ticked back down to 3.5K and average hourly earnings are in line with expectations at 3%. Canada reported a net change in employment for February of 30.3K from an estimate of 10K along with the an unchanged unemployment rate of 5.6%. USDCAD has reacted virtually unchanged to the news with market sentiment still dominated by covid-19 fears. The DOW has opened down by another -2.8% to start the day and the USD dollar index is at an over 1 month low. Yesterday’s speech by BoC governor Poloz revealed some insight into Wednesday’s rate cut as Poloz suggested that “the BoC was leaning toward a cut even without the virus”. Levels remain little changed, between 1.3315 short term support and near term resistance of 1.3465.