CANADA FX DEBT-CAD notches a 2-week high on Powell rate cut guidance

The Canadian dollar strengthened to a two-week high against its U.S. counterpart on Thursday as dovish comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell pressured the greenback and domestic data showed the trade balance swinging into surplus in January. "Today's a bit more of a (U.S.) dollar story," said Alex Cohen, an FX Strategist at BofA Securities. The U.S. dollar fell against a basket of major currencies as Powell said in a hearing before the U.S. Senate Banking Committee that the Fed was "not far" from gaining the confidence it needs in falling inflation to begin cutting interest rates.