Morning Commentary & Currency Insights – March 7, 2018

North American equities are slated for a negative open and the NAFTA currencies (CAD,MXN) took it on the chin when White House Chief Economic Advisor Gary Cohn resigned after market close last night.  Just when it looked like the Canadian dollar would get a reprieve it was slammed by this unexpected departure of the “pro trade” advisor prompting concern that rumoured tariffs will gain deeper traction within the administration.  Now we turn to this morning’s Bank of Canada rate decision where no move is anticipated but accompanying statements will be parsed for clues as to the BoC psyche.  Another test of 1.3000 may be in the cards today in this backdrop.