The Canadian dollar gained against other most-traded currencies today thanks to a big rally of crude oil. But gains were limited as market participants were waiting for the monetary policy decision of Canada’s central bank later this week.
According to a report from Washington Post, today the United States will announce an end of Iran sanctions waivers. The USA implemented sanctions against the Middle Eastern nation some time ago but granted waivers for some countries. But it looks there will be no more exceptions as of May 2, and any country that continues to trade with Iran afterwards will itself face sanctions from the USA. The news boosted prices for crude oil by more than 2%. That was good for the Canadian currency as crude is the major export commodity of Canada.
The Bank of Canada will hold a monetary policy meeting on Wednesday. While market participants expect the central bank to keep interest rates unchanged, they will carefully inspect the policy statement. Last time, the BoC surprised markets by changing its stance from hawkish to neutral.
USD/CAD dropped from 1.3387 to 1.3356 as of 11:51 GMT today. EUR/CAD declined from 1.5047 to 1.5025. CAD/JPY gained from 83.54 to 83.79.
If you have any questions, comments, or opinions regarding the Canadian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.
