The Canadian dollar today fell against its US counterpart as investors ignored upbeat crude oil prices and bought the safe-haven greenback as geopolitical risks mounted. The USD/CAD currency pair today rallied higher following the release of disappointing Canadian retail sales data in the American session before giving up most of its gains.
The USD/CAD currency pair today rallied to a high of 1.3300 before retracing most of its gains to trade near its opening low of 1.3259 at the time of writing.
The currency pair’s rally was primarily driven by the greenback’s strength as tracked by the US Dollar Index, which hit a high of 98.64. Conflicting reports from US government officials including Larry Kudlow on the state of Sino-US trade negotiations stoked investor fears fueling a risk-off market sentiment. The loonie did not rally on rising crude oil prices as tracked by the West Texas Intermediate, which hit a high of 59.24. The release of Canada’s retail sales data for August also contributed to the loonie’s weakness. According to Statistics Canada, headline retail sales in August grew 0.4% versus the expected 0.6% expansion, while core retail sales declined by 0.1% against consensus estimates of 0.3% growth.
The currency pair quickly fell from its daily highs in a move that was attributed to profit-taking as the London session closed. President Donald Trump‘s imposition of new sanctions on Iran’s national bank boosted oil prices and the loonie.
The currency pair’s performance over the weekend is likely to be affected by geopolitical events and crude oil prices.
The USD/CAD currency pair was trading at 1.3276 as at 16:40 GMT having dropped from a high of 1.3300. The CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at 81.27, having fallen from a high of 81.50.
If you have any questions, comments, or opinions regarding the Canadian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.
