Canadian dollar drops near week's lowest, ahead of retail Inflation data

The Canadian dollar fell on the European market on Friday against a basket of global currencies, continuing losses for the second day in a row against its US counterpart, approaching the re-touch the lowest level in the week of the Registered earlier in yesterday's trading session, this comes as the recovery of levels of the US dollar against most currencies And ahead of important data from Canada on inflation and retail sales, which provide new evidence about the prospects of raising Canadian interest rates this year.

USD/CAD is trading around $1.3392 from the opening price of $1.3361 after recording a high of $1.3393 and a low of $1.3352.

The Canadian dollar ended yesterday's trading down 0.5% against the US dollar, its first loss in three days, hitting a one-week low of $1.3399 Canadian dollars per US dollar as the US currency recovered.

The dollar index rose 0.5% on Friday, extending its gains for a second straight day, as the bounce from the seven-week low at 95.15 points, reflecting the continued US dollar recovery against most major and minor currencies.

The Reserve Bank of Canada kept steady interest rates unchanged at 1.75% at the 6th of March's meeting in line with most expectations, and reduced its conviction that interest rates will need to rise in 2019 due to the recent slowdown in the country's economy and the rising global risks.

The central bank has abandoned its previous assertions that interest rates will need to rise over time, turning to talk that the economy needs stimulus, and that there is more uncertainty about the timing of future rate increases.

Investors have therefore cut the possibility that the central bank will raise interest rates this year. To re-evaluate these prospects, investors will be looking for important data from Canada on key inflation and monthly retail sales later in the day.

By 12:30 GMT, the consumer price index is expected to rise by 0.6% in February from a 0.1% rise in January and an expected annual reading of 1.4%.

At the same time, monthly retail sales are expected to rise by 0.4% in January from a 0.1% drop in December, with car sales expected to rise by 0.2% from a 0.5% drop in the previous reading.