The Canadian Dollar strengthened significantly against its American counterpart as the GDP report showed stronger-than-anticipated figures. The USD/CAD pair dropped by 83 base points or 66% to reach the 1.2568 level and continued its gradual decline.
Statistics Canada announced that the country's GDP expanded at a 4.5% annualised pace in the June quarter, beating forecasts for a 3.7% increase. The main contributors to growth were broad-based increases in consumer spending, exports and business investment. Strong figures marked Canada as the best performer amongst the G7, suggesting higher chances that the Bank of Canada would continue to raise key interest rate this year.
| Historical Data Table: GDP q/q | |||||
| Date | 31.08.2017 | 30.10.2016 | 02.03.2017 | 31.05.2017 | 31.08.2017 |
| Actual | -1.6% | 3.5% | 2.6% | 3.7% | 4.5% |
| Forecast | -1.5% | 3.4% | 2.0% | 3.9% | 3.7% |
| Initial Reaction on Main Pairs | |||||
| Open Price | Close Price | % Change | |||
| AUD/CAD | 0.99617 | 0.99144 | -0.47% | ||
| CAD/CHF | 0.76451 | 0.76825 | 0.49% | ||
| EUR/CAD | 1.49699 | 1.4892 | -0.52% | ||
| USD/CAD | 1.26522 | 1.25689 | -0.66% | ||