Get the clarity you need to navigate shifting market conditions with confidence. The Market Services FX Spotlight delivers timely insights and analysis from RBC Investor Services’ FX Market Trading Desk, helping you understand the currency moves, central bank decisions and geopolitical shifts that matter most to your portfolio and your clients.
Headlines
- The United States and Iran agreed to a two-week ceasefire on April 7, re-opening the Strait of Hormuz under Iranian oversight and sparking a broad cross-asset risk rally that sent equities to new all-time highs. Oil remained above USD 100/bbl despite the ceasefire, with the UAE announcing its departure from OPEC and OPEC+ on May 1.
- Canada’s labour market rebounded in March, adding 14,100 jobs and recovering from February's loss of 83,900, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 6.7%.
- The Liberal Party secured its first parliamentary majority since 2019 after winning three special elections, boosting the CAD on the day as the passage of policy and legislation eases.
- The Bank of Canada held its policy rate at 2.25%, continuing to look through the immediate impact of the war while monitoring US trade uncertainty as an added layer of complexity.
- Canada unveiled a sovereign wealth fund seeded with CAD 25 billion on April 27, focused on national infrastructure, with a target of CAD 500 billion in private investment through the Canada Strong Fund.
The USD declined in April as the US and Iran agreed to a temporary ceasefire, sparking a broad cross-asset risk rally. Despite the positive developments, an impasse persists, keeping oil prices above USD 100/bbl and yields elevated in the United States and abroad.
