Ella 
During early European trading on Friday, USD/CAD gained momentum near 1.3565. Rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have boosted safe-haven flows, with a pickup in U.S. dollar (USD) demand underpinning a rebound in USD/CAD.
On Thursday, Fed Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin said deflation is likely to continue, but the pace remains unclear. Barkin added that maintaining a “somewhat restrictive” interest rate policy would bring inflation back to target. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said that Fed officials believe it is appropriate to start lowering policy rates if the economy develops as expected.
U.S. labor market data for March will be released later in the day, which is likely to provide new insights into the Fed’s interest rate outlook. The closely watched non-farm payrolls (NFP) data is expected to show that non-farm payrolls added 200,000 jobs in March, following a gain of 275,000 jobs in February. The unemployment rate is expected to hold steady at 3.9% in March. If US non-farm payrolls come in stronger than expected, this could dampen expectations of a rate cut by the Fed in June, providing some support for the USD/CAD pair.
