THE TAKEAWAY: CAD Ivey Purchasing Managers Index s.a. (JUL) > 48.4 versus 57.0 expected, from 55.3 > USDCAD BULLISH
Canadian data comes in weak yet again today, after Canadian Building Permits numbers missed. The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index comes in at 48.4, far below the Bloomberg News survey consensus of 57.0. This is importantly below the 50.0 level, which indicates a contraction in the number of purchases across various Canadian industries.
Today’s reading is the lowest level since November, which is also the last time a sub-50.0 number was printed. The recent bout of weak Canadian data highlights a potential economic slowdown. Data was optimistic earlier this year, with the Ivey PMI topping 63.1 in May, but has since stagnated.
USDCAD 1-minute Chart: August 7, 2013

Charts Created using Marketscope – prepared by Kevin Jin
The USDCAD rallied about +12 pips after the poor Canadian data. The pair was able to breach $1.0420, but has since traded slightly lower. The CAD remains the weakest major currency against the USD, down -0.38% at the time of writing. The USDCAD intraday high of $1.0444 is the highest level since July 11.
--- Written by Kevin Jin, DailyFX Research
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