The Canadian dollar today dropped to new daily lows against its US counterpart following the release of weak Canadian retail sales data. The loonie had made gains against the greenback earlier today as evidenced by the USD/CAD currency pair’s decline before retracing all of its gains after the release.
The USD/CAD currency pair today dropped from an opening high of 1.3357 to a low of 1.3301 before retracing all its losses in the American session.
The loonie had started today’s session on a high note boosted by an improved market risk sentiment, which favored it versus the safe haven greenback. The Canadian dollar was boosted by rising oil prices as tracked by the West Texas Intermediate, which hit a high of 53.64 today, as it recovered from yesterday’s 1.75% decline. Given that crude oil is Canada’s most important export, the higher oil prices were a boon to the loonie. Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz stated that the BoC’s monetary policy decisions were based on pertinent data given the existing risks to global trade, which reassured investors.
The release of Canada’s retail sales data for November early in the American session triggered a major pullback by the pair. According to Statistics Canada, the headline retail sales contracted by 0.9%, which was larger than the expected 0.6% decline, while the core retail sales figure contracted by 0.6% versus the expected 0.4% drop.
The currency pair’s short-term performance is likely to be affected by global crude oil prices and geopolitical events that influence investor sentiment.
The USD/CAD currency pair was trading at 1.3354 as at 15:57 GMT having rallied from a low of 1.3301. The CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at 82.09 having dropped from a high of 82.44.
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