USD/CAD Falls for Third Day as Safe-Haven Demand and December Fed Hike Bets Ease

According to Jin10, USD/CAD fell for a third consecutive trading day during Friday’s Asian session, trading near 1.3970. Despite renewed diplomatic efforts in the Middle East easing pressure on oil markets and weighing on the commodity-linked Canadian dollar, the pair continued to decline. Hopes for U.S.-led diplomatic peace talks reduced safe-haven demand and pressured the U.S. dollar. Easing tensions in the Middle East also helped alleviate concerns about oil supplies and inflation, weakening expectations of a Federal Reserve rate hike in December. Traders currently put the probability of a 25-basis-point rate hike at nearly 75%, down from 84.2% the previous day. However, recent U.S. economic data indicated continued resilience and reinforced rate-hike expectations. The preliminary year-over-year growth rate for U.S. gross domestic product was 3.4%, above the 3.2% market expectation and the second quarter’s 2.2%. The Federal Reserve’s preferred inflation measure, the core Personal Consumption Expenditures price index, rose 3.1% year over year, in line with expectations.