USD Stays Strong; Stocks Down on Geo-Political Risks

• 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