{"id":53649,"date":"2026-05-20T00:49:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:49:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/uncategorized\/usd-cad-edges-higher-as-softer-boc-core-inflation-and-safe-haven-dollar-demand-lift-greenback\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T00:49:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-19T16:49:08","slug":"usd-cad-edges-higher-as-softer-boc-core-inflation-and-safe-haven-dollar-demand-lift-greenback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/live-updates\/usd-cad-edges-higher-as-softer-boc-core-inflation-and-safe-haven-dollar-demand-lift-greenback\/","title":{"rendered":"USD\/CAD edges higher as softer BoC core inflation and safe-haven Dollar demand lift greenback"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>USD\/CAD rose on Tuesday and traded near 1.3760 at the time of writing, up 0.17% on the day. The move came as the Canadian Dollar did not gain much support from Oil, even with WTI at $102.70, up 0.60%.<\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s inflation increased in April, with CPI rising 2.8% year-on-year versus 2.4% previously, slightly below forecasts. Month-on-month CPI rose 0.4%.<\/p>\n<h3>Bank Of Canada Core Inflation Eases<\/h3>\n<p>The Bank of Canada\u2019s core CPI eased to 2.1% year-on-year from 2.5%. This pointed to slower underlying price growth even as headline inflation moved higher.<\/p>\n<p>The US Dollar stayed firm amid demand for safe-haven assets linked to geopolitical tensions involving Iran. Reports of explosions on Iran\u2019s Qeshm Island and concerns about reduced traffic through the Strait of Hormuz raised worries about energy supply.<\/p>\n<p>US data also supported the Dollar, with ADP Employment Change showing private employers added an average of 42.25K jobs per week in early May, up from 33K. Together with a stronger USD and Canada\u2019s mixed inflation data, USD\/CAD kept upward pressure.<\/p>\n<p>We recall the situation in 2025 when mixed inflation data kept the Bank of Canada&#8217;s path uncertain. Today, with the BoC now widely expected to begin cutting its policy rate from 5.0% in the coming months, the dynamic has shifted significantly. This policy divergence with the Federal Reserve, which is holding rates steady, suggests a clear path for the US dollar to strengthen against the loonie.<\/p>\n<h3>Oil Tailwind For Cad Weakens<\/h3>\n<p>The support from high energy prices we saw in 2025, with WTI trading over $100, has also faded. We are now seeing West Texas Intermediate hover around $79 a barrel, offering less of a buffer for the Canadian dollar. This removes a key pillar of support that previously helped limit CAD weakness.<\/p>\n<p>Given this outlook, we are positioning for continued upward movement in USD\/CAD. Buying call options on USD\/CAD with expiry dates in the next three to six months could be an effective strategy to capitalize on the expected policy divergence. This allows traders to benefit from a rising exchange rate while limiting downside risk.<\/p>\n<p>While last year we saw robust US hiring data, recent reports like April&#8217;s Non-Farm Payrolls showed a more moderate 175,000 jobs added. Despite this cooling, US inflation remains stickier at 3.4%, giving the Federal Reserve less reason to cut rates compared to its Canadian counterpart. This relative economic strength continues to favor the greenback.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login\">start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>USD\/CAD climbed near 1.3760 as safe-haven Dollar demand outweighed oil gains and mixed Canadian inflation readings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":103,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[59],"tags":[9],"class_list":["post-53649","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates","tag-dollar"],"acf":{"acf_article_selection_author":null},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53649","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/103"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53649"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53649\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53649"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53649"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/en-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53649"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}