The Canadian dollar did not show a clear trend today, being under the influence of mixed fundamentals. Domestic employment data was surprisingly good but the drop of crude oil prices was weighing on the currency.
Statistics Canada reported that Canadian employers added 35,200 jobs in December after shedding as much as 71,200 in November. The figure was above the analysts’ consensus forecast of a 24,900 increase. Furthermore, the unemployment rate dropped from 5.9% to 5.6%, whereas experts had predicted just a small decrease to 5.8%. The main contributors to the employment growth were accommodation and food services as well as construction, while other industries were little changed.
Futures for crude oil continued to fall today, with the North American grade losing about 0.5% of its value during the current trading session. The subsiding tensions in the Middle East reduced fears of supply disruptions, giving traders less incentive to buy the commodity. And that is bad to the Canadian currency as Canada’s economy heavily relies on export of crude to generate trade revenue. Baker Hughes will release its US oil rig count later today, and it usually has an impact on oil prices, therefore it may affect the loonie too.
USD/CAD was about flat at 1.3055 as of 16:36 GMT today. EUR/CAD edged up from 1.4496 to 1.4515, bouncing from the daily low of 1.4459. CAD/JPY was little changed at 83.86 after rallying to the daily high of 84.14 earlier. GBP/CAD traded flat at 1.7049.
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