USD/CAD fluctuates following US manufacturing data

The USD/CAD pair stopped its slump following US data that signaled further retreating economic activity in United States.

The weaker-than-expected US ISM Manufacturing PMI triggered a fresh wave of Risk aversion in addition to comments by Fed’s Bowman who said there’s work to do by the US central bank.

The USD/CAD pair is trimming some of Wednesday’s losses following the weak ISM Manufacturing reading which threatens to tip the economy of the United States into recession.

The dovish commentary by the Fed Chair Jerome Powell capped the USD/CAD gains. At the time of writing, the USD/CAD is trading at 1.3412. market mood turned negative as US ISM Manufacturing PMI flashes a recession.

Manufacturing PMI report for November fell to the contractionary territory at 49.0, beneath 49.2 expectations, and below the previous reading for October ;50.2. Timothy Fiore, the ISM’s Manufacturing Business Survey Committee chair, said the report “reflects companies’ preparing for lower output.” Additionally, the US Department of Labour (DoL) revealed that Initial Jobless Claims for the last week increased by 225K, below the expected 235K by analysts and less than the previous week’s reading.

Earlier, the US Department of Commerce revealed that the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge, the US Core Personal Consumption Expenditure (PCE), rose by 5% YoY, below the previous month’s 5.2% reading, and aligned with consensus.

Fed Chair Jerome Powell gave the green light to slow rate hikes on Wednesday. Powell noted that moderation could happen as soon as the December meeting, though he emphasized the Fed’s commitment to tackle inflation. Echoing some of his comments was Fed Governor Michell Bowman, saying,” We still have a lot of work to do to bring our policy rate to a level that is sufficiently restrictive to bring down inflation over time.”

As for the Canadian economic calendar, November’s S&P Global PMI Manufacturing report also came in contractionary territory for the fourth consecutive month, rising by 49.6 above October’s 48.8. Paul Smith, economics director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said, “Both output and new orders continued to fall, although perhaps of some comfort is that the degrees of decline were softer than in October.”

The USD/CAD daily chart showed the major found support at around 1.3400, though it failed to defend against the convergence of the 20 and 50-day (EMAs) around 1.3440/45. That could pave the way for a break under 1.3400, sending the pair sliding toward the 100-day EMA at 1.3321. Otherwise, the USD/CAD might consolidate around the 1.3400-1.3440 area.

The US and Canadian economic dockets will feature employment figures, which could shed some clues about the current economic status.