The USD/CAD pair trades close to a nine-month high at 1.3890 in Friday’s European session. The Loonie asset exhibits strength amid dismal market moods. Fears of a severe slowdown in the United States (US) economy have deepened after the US ISM Manufacturing PMI report showed a sharp contraction in factory activities in July and Initial jobless claims reading came in highest in 11 months for the week ending July 26.

S&P 500 futures have posted significant losses in European trading hours, exhibiting a sharp decline in investors’ risk appetite. Meanwhile, investors jumped for the Japanese Yen (JPY) and the Swiss Franc (CHF) as safe-haven bets.

The US Dollar Index (DXY), which tracks the Greenback’s value against six major currencies, slumps to near 104.10. 10-year US Treasury yields have plummeted further to 3.94% as speculation for the Federal Reserve (Fed) to begin reducing interest rates from the September meeting appears certain.

In Friday’s session, the US Dollar (USD) will be impacted by the US Nonfarm Payrolls (NFP) data for July, which will be published at 12:30 GMT. The Employment data is expected to show that 175K fresh workers were hired in July, lower than the 206K payrolls recorded in June. Annual Average Hourly Earnings data is expected to have decelerated to 3.7%.

Meanwhile, the Canadian Dollar (CAD) weakens on expectations that the Bank of Canada (BoC) could cut interest rates again. Price pressures in the Canadian economy have softened significantly, and investors remain concerned over deteriorating spending and investment. This would force the BoE to extend the policy-easing spell.

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