The Canadian dollar fell on Wednesday due to the drop of crude oil prices and unfavorable domestic macroeconomic data. The currency managed to trim its losses after the release of policy minutes from the Federal Reserve.
Crude oil fell during the Wednesday’s trading session and, as it often happens, the Canadian currency followed movement of the commodity. Retail sales decreased 0.5% in December following the 0.3% increase in November. That was an unpleasant surprise to economists as they were anticipating an increase in December as well, albeit a small one.
While the loonie fell during the session, driven down by the unfavorable factors, the currency regained some of its strength after the Fed released minutes of its latest meeting. The notes looked actually pretty hawkish, saying that an interest rate hike may happen “fairly soon.” Yet the market reacted in a surprising manner, sending the US dollar down and some of its rivals, including the Canadian dollar, up.
USD/CAD rose from 1.3140 to 1.3161 as of 23:59 GMT today, reaching the high of 1.3209. EUR/CAD rallied from 1.3843 1.3886. CAD/JPY was down from 86.47 to 85.46 intraday but bounced to trade at 86.10 later.
If you have any questions, comments or opinions regarding the Canadian Dollar,
feel free to post them using the commentary form below.
