USD/CAD analysis for October 18, 2024
On Friday, USD/CAD shows mixed movements, consolidating around the 1.3800 mark, without moving much away from the local highs on October 15. The volatility of currency pairs in the market remains low by the end of the week, as there is little significant macroeconomic data. Investors are analyzing already published statistics and preparing for the upcoming US presidential elections in early November.
This week, data on retail sales in the United States were released. In September, they increased by 0.4% (against 0.1% in August), which exceeded analysts' forecasts of 0.3%. Industrial production, on the contrary, decreased by 0.3% after rising by 0.3% a month earlier, which is slightly worse than expected. The index of business activity in the manufacturing sector of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in October increased from 1.7 to 10.3 points, and the number of applications for unemployment benefits fell sharply — from 260 thousand to 241 thousand in the week of October 11.
In Canada, inflation statistics were published this week, which may affect future decisions of the Bank of Canada. The core consumer price index in September showed zero dynamics in monthly terms after a decrease of 0.1% in August, and in annual terms it increased from 1.5% to 1.6%. However, the overall inflation rate fell to 1.6% year-on-year, which was lower than preliminary estimates.
A steady upward trend is visible on the chart of days. The Bollinger bands remain wide despite a slight narrowing, which indicates the possibility of further activity. The MACD indicator supports a weak buy signal, and the Stochastic indicates a downward trend, ignoring corrective movements.
In case of a confident breakdown up to the 1.3800 level, we will open long positions with a target of 1.3900 and a stop loss at 1.3750.
If the pair bounces off this level and breaks down to 1.3765, then we get a sales signal with a target of 1.3700. We will set the stop loss at 1.3800.