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With no US economic data on the calendar today, reports from Australia and Canada triggered big moves in the Australian and Canadian dollars.

Consumer prices in Australia jumped 1.2 percent in the first quarter thanks to sharp increases in the prices of gas, pharmaceuticals and electricity.  Although this number drove the Australian dollar significantly higher, it should not have been too much of a surprise following the strength of producer prices reported earlier this week.  The Canadian dollar on the other hand took a big tumble following much weaker than expected retail sales.  This was the first decline in 5 months and coming a day after the Bank of Canada cut interest rates by 50bp, it highlighted the vulnerability of the Canadian economy.  Meanwhile the Reserve Bank of New Zealand has their own interest rate decision tonight.  Unlike the BoC, interest rates are expected to remain unchanged which means that the RBNZ rate decision could be a non-event for the New Zealand dollar.