The Bank of Canada announced the first interest rate decision of the year at 3:00 pm GMT. The Bank left rates unchanged as expected but the statement caused CAD to weaken. BoC sees Q4 2019 GDP growth at 0.3% and has decided to lower growth forecast for Q1 to 1.3% from 1.7% as uncertainty and geopolitical tensions re-emerged. Moreover, the Bank noted that job creation slowed and consumer confidence was unexpectedly soft as of late. Real GDP growth is projected at 1.6% in 2020 and at 2% in 2021. In response to the announcement, USDCAD erased daily drop and surged above its recent trading range of 1.3040-1.3075. In fact, the pair is trading at the highest level of 2020 as it broke above previous YTD high of 1.3103.
Source: xStation5
