• Canadian Dollar recovers ground on US data print.
• Canada sees low-impact data for the back half of the trading week.
• Crude Oil markets are in recovery mode, bolstering Canadian Dollar.

The Canadian Dollar (CAD) found itself on the high side of the US Dollar (USD) on Thursday after US Retail Sales missed expectations and shrank in January. The Greenback’s midweek surge on CPI-fueled risk aversion is getting pared back, and the CAD is finding additional support from recovering Crude Oil bids heading into the back end of the trading week.

Canadian Housing Starts came in below expectations, but the low-impact data saw little market movement as investors broadly focus on shifts in US data prints. A rebound in Crude Oil also bolsters the Canadian Dollar.

Daily digest market movers: US Retail Sales miss sparks Greenback weakness on Thursday

• US Retail Sales declined 0.8% in January, well below the -0.1% forecast.
• December’s US Retail Sales saw a downside revision to 0.4% from 0.6%.
• US Retail Sales excluding Autos also fell 0.6% MoM in January versus the 0.2% forecast.
• January’s US Industrial Production also fell 0.1% MoM versus the forecast of 0.3%, piling onto December’s 0.0% (revised from 0.1%).
• US Initial Jobless Claims printed at 212K versus the forecast of 220K for the week ended February 9, while the previous week saw a revision to 220K from 218K.
• Canadian Housing Starts settled to 223.6K for the year ending in January versus the 235K forecast, down even further from the previous period’s 248.9K (revised down from 249.3K).
• Crude Oil markets see a sharp recovery on Thursday after Wednesday’s stark decline.
• West Texas Intermediate (WTI) US Crude Oil barrels are back over $77.00, testing $77.50 during the US trading session.
• Friday is set to wrap up the trading week with US Producer Price Index (PPI) figures and the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index.
• US PPI for the year ended January is forecast to tick down to 1.6% from 1.8%.
• The Michigan Consumer Sentiment Index for February is expected to improve slightly to 80.0 from 79.0