A report from Statistics Canada today showed that the Leading Indicators index declined for the seventh straight month in March. The Leading Indicator Index, which measures future economic activity, fell by 1.3 percent in March following a revised 
decline of 1.4 percent in February. The March decline was more than expected as market forecasts were calling for a 0.8 percent decline.
Nine out of the ten measured sectors that make up the leading indicator index showed declines with the money supply indicator showing the only increase with a 0.9 percent gain.
Contributing heavily to the overall index decline was a record decrease in durable goods which fell by 10.3 percent. The stock market index fell by 2.3 percent, the housing index declined by 4.3 percent and furniture & appliance sales decreased by 0.9 percent for the month. Smaller declines were seen in the indexes for the US Conference Board, other durable goods, shipments, average workweek and business & personal services employment.
Canadian dollar mixed in currency trading.
The Canadian dollar has been mixed today in the currency markets against the major currencies. The U.S. dollar has advanced slightly against the Canadian loonie as the USD/CAD has gained from its 1.2389 opening at 00:00GMT to trading at 1.2399 at 4:04pm EST in the US session according to currency data from Oanda. The USD/CAD reached an intraday high of 1.476 before retreating lower.
The euro has also gained against the loonie as the EUR/CAD trades at the 1.6116 level after opening the day at 1.6017 and reached an intraday high of 1.6148. The loonie has fallen versus the Japanese yen today as the CAD/JPY has edged down to the 78.89 yen per loonie level after opening at 79.20.
The British pound has fallen sharply versus the loonie today as the GBP/CAD has dropped to the 1.7957 level after opening the day at 1.8124.
The Australian dollar is higher against the loonie as the AUD/CAD pair trades at 0.8741 from today’s opening rate of 0.8730 while the New Zealand dollar has declined against the CAD as the NZD/CAD trades at 0.6880 from 0.6889 earlier today.
USD/CAD Chart – The USD/CAD advancing higher this week in currency trading after falling for the previous three weeks in a row and five out of the last six weeks(4H Chart).
