The Canadian Gross Domestic Product decreased in the first quarter of 2009 by the most since 1991 according to a report by Statistics Canada released today. Canadian GDP fell in the January to March quarter by an annualized 5.4 percent following a revised decline of 3.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008. The decline was the largest 
quarterly fall since the first quarter decrease of 5.9 percent in 1991. Today’s data, despite the fall, was better than market forecasts as predictions were for an annualized 6.5 percent decrease.
GDP data for the month of March showed a decline of 0.3 percent following a 0.1 percent decrease in February. The monthly decline matched economic forecasts predicting a fall of 0.1 percent.
Contributing to the first quarter GDP decline was a decrease in the production of goods by 4.0 percent with the service-producing industries also falling in the first quarter by 0.5 percent. Exports declined for the seventh straight quarter at a 8.7 percent dip while imports also fell at a 11.0 percent clip. Consumer spending decreased in the first quarter as spending declined by 0.4 percent while spending on durable goods also decreased by 1.8 percent.
Canadian dollar lower in currency trading.
The Canadian dollar has been mostly lower today in the currency markets against the major currencies. The U.S. dollar has advanced slightly against the Canadian loonie as the USD/CAD has gained from its 1.0868 opening at 00:00 GMT to trading at 1.0934 at 4:09pm EST in the US session according to currency data from Oanda. The USD/CAD reached an intraday low of 1.0785 before moving higher.
The euro has gained against the loonie as the EUR/CAD trades at the 1.5460 level after opening the day at 1.5375. The British pound has also advanced sharply versus the loonie today as the GBP/CAD has surged to the 1.7963 level after opening the day at 1.7633.
The loonie has gained ground versus the Japanese yen today as the CAD/JPY has moved up to the 88.31 yen per loonie level after opening the day at 87.39.
The Australian dollar is sharply higher today against the loonie as the AUD/CAD pair trades at 0.8862 from today’s opening rate of 0.8755 while the New Zealand dollar has also climbed against the CAD. The NZD/CAD trades at 0.7123 from 0.6988 earlier today.
AUD/CAD Chart – The AUD/CAD advancing higher today in currency trading and trading in overbought territory on the Relative Strength Indicator below (30-Minute Chart).
