USD Stays Strong; Stocks Down on Geo-Political Risks
Published March 6, 2017
USD/CAD continues to trade near 1.34 in what will be a quiet start to the week for Canadian economic data; the loonie remains under pressure versus the dollar due to a plethora of hawkish comments from the Fed last week
Federal Reserve chair, Janet Yellen, gave investors a strong signal on Friday afternoon that the US central bank is likely to raise interest rates at the next FOMC meeting on March 14th and 15th
Yellen stated that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates if US employment and inflation numbers are in line with expectations; current odds of a rate hike for March stand at 84%
US stock market futures are set to open lower this morning after North Korea escalated geo-political tensions by firing four ballistic missiles into the Sea of Japan; gold and safe-haven currencies are up in risk-off trades this morning
President Trump has also spurred doubt into the markets by tweeting rumours of alleged wire-tapping of his residence in Trump Tower during the 2016 election by former President Barack Obama
The euro is down after former prime minister Alain Juppe opted not enter the French presidential race to bolster the hopes of a conservative party win; EU-skeptic Marine Le Pen now has a clearer path to win and fulfill promises of taking France out of the euro zone
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