{"id":45982,"date":"2026-04-27T21:37:53","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:37:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/uncategorized\/45982\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T21:37:53","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T21:37:53","slug":"scotiabank-strategists-say-cad-strengthens-against-usd-extending-typical-april-outperformance-despite-uncertain-risk-sentiment-and-momentum-targets-march-lows","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/live-updates\/45982\/","title":{"rendered":"Scotiabank strategists say CAD strengthens against USD, extending typical April outperformance despite uncertain risk sentiment and momentum targets March lows"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Canadian Dollar rose against the US Dollar over the weekend, moving in line with other commodity-linked currencies despite an uncertain risk backdrop. USD\/CAD fell to its lowest level since mid-March and continued a seasonal pattern often seen in April.<\/p>\n<p>USD\/CAD remained above a fair value estimate of 1.3531, while earlier overvaluation seen in late March and early April was described as easing. Technical analysis noted a break below support at 1.3625 after a brief pause last week.<\/p>\n<h3>Near Term Technical Direction<\/h3>\n<p>Short-term chart patterns were cited as pointing to further USD\/CAD weakness. A retest of the early March low around 1.3520\/25 was presented as a possible next move.<\/p>\n<p>We are seeing the Canadian dollar strengthen decisively, continuing its usual April outperformance even with some uncertainty in the market. This move has pushed the USD\/CAD pair below the key 1.3625 support level. The short-term trend now points firmly downward for the US dollar against the loonie.<\/p>\n<p>This strength is supported by firm commodity prices, with West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude recently breaking above $87 per barrel for the first time since late 2025. The positive momentum in oil gives the loonie a fundamental tailwind. Derivative traders should factor this external strength into their models for the Canadian dollar.<\/p>\n<p>Given the bearish technical setup, we believe traders should consider buying USD\/CAD put options. These positions would profit from a continued slide towards the 1.3520\/25 area, which represents the lows from early March. Options expiring in late May or June offer a good timeframe to capture this expected move.<\/p>\n<h3>Options Strategy Considerations<\/h3>\n<p>Recent economic data reinforces this view, as last week&#8217;s Canadian CPI print came in slightly above expectations at 2.9%, keeping the Bank of Canada on hold. Meanwhile, the latest U.S. jobless claims figures showed a notable increase, suggesting some softening in the American labor market. This policy divergence is fundamentally negative for USD\/CAD.<\/p>\n<p>For those looking to generate income or express a less aggressively bearish view, selling out-of-the-money USD\/CAD call spreads is an attractive strategy. By selling a call and buying a further-out-of-the-money call for protection, traders can profit if the pair stays below their chosen strike prices through expiration. This is a way to capitalize on the easing overvaluation we&#8217;ve observed since early April.<\/p>\n<p>Looking back, the seasonal strength for the CAD this April appears even more pronounced than what we saw in 2025. Last year, the move was choppy, but this year&#8217;s break below 1.3625 seems more decisive. This suggests underlying momentum that could carry through into May.<\/p>\n<p><b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vtmarkets.com\/trade-now\/\">Create your live VT Markets account<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/myaccount.vtmarkets.com\/login\">start trading<\/a>\u00a0now. <\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Canadian Dollar strengthened; USD\/CAD hit mid-March lows, broke 1.3625 support, with downside toward 1.3520\/25.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":38,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-live-updates"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"josephine","author_link":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/author\/josephine\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/38"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vtmarketsglobal.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}