The Canadian dollar was little changed-to-lower against most of its major rivals despite economic data from Canada released over the trading session that was good. The problem for the currency was a steep drop of crude oil prices.
Canada’s employment rose by 43,900 in October from September — the result which was nowhere near the drop by 10,000 promised by analysts. The unemployment rate was steady at 7.0%. The Ivey Purchasing Managers Index rose from 58.4 in September to 59.7 in October. The only negative indicator was the trade balance as its deficit widened from C$2.0 billion in August to a record C$4.1 billion in September while experts had promised a small decrease.
Yet the loonie struggled to stay above the opening level due to crude oil prices, which often influence the currency. Prices sank today as doubts resurfaced about the production cut deal proposed by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.
USD/CAD traded at about 1.3406 as of 17:36 GMT today after opening at 1.3395 and rising to the session maximum of 1.3465 intraday — the highest since March 4. EUR/CAD was up from 1.4876 to 1.4908 but retreated from the daily high of 1.4957, which was the highest since April 8. CAD/CHF dropped from 0.7269 to 0.7230, and its daily low of 0.7211 was the lowest since February 25.
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