Ella 
USD/CAD consolidated gains above 1.3650 during Thursday’s Asian trading session. The pair’s gains were supported by stronger-than-expected US inflation in March, which pushed USD/CAD to yearly highs of 105.30. Investors will get more clues from the U.S. Producer Price Index (PPI) due later on Thursday. Headline and core producer price indexes are expected to increase 2.2% and 2.3% year-on-year, respectively.
The Bank of Canada (BOC) kept its key interest rate at 5% for the sixth consecutive time at its April meeting on Thursday, the first time since July. Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem said at a press conference after the statement that recent progress on inflation is encouraging, but he needs to see more evidence to ensure that inflation can be sustained. Then cut interest rates. Macklem further said that a rate cut in June is possible.
On the other hand, higher-than-expected inflation in the United States in March forced the Federal Reserve (Fed) to maintain higher benchmark interest rates for longer. The Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Department of Labor released a report on Wednesday saying that the U.S. Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 0.4% month-on-month and 3.5% year-on-year in March. Elsewhere, core CPI, which excludes the volatile food and energy components, rose 0.4% month-on-month and 3.8% year-over-year.
