With Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke due to deliver his highly anticipated economic statement in just a few hours time the Canadian Dollar slumped to a week low against its US counterpart.
The Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate was in the region of 0.9815 against the US Dollar as of 14:30 GMT
The currency was little changed after a report compiled by Statistics Canada showed that Canadian wholesale sales climbed for a fourth month in April, resulting in the longest streak of gains for a year.
The 0.2 per cent advance, which was largely led by increases in computer and communications supplies, was smaller than the previous month’s 0.3 per cent gain.
Economists had forecast that wholesale prices would rise by 0.3 per cent.
Despite the improvement seen in recent months, sales are still 1.2 per cent lower than in the same period of a year earlier.
Of the seven industry components which make up the measure, four posted declines.
Meanwhile, a separate report showed that Canada’s net foreign debt fell to 231.3 billion Canadian Dollars in the first quarter of the year, shedding 70.8 billion Canadian Dollars from the previous three months.
The ‘Loonie’ was trading in the region of 97.68 US cents
The commodity-driven currency is also being affected by speculation surrounding Stephen Poloz first address as Governor of the Bank of Canada, taking place later today, but while the tone he adopts will be of interest the main cause of market movement today remains news from the US.
As Toronto-based strategist David Tulk notes: ‘If the economy does perform largely as expected, especially in the context of some upward revisions, then tapering is certainly possible in September. If the Fed does continue with that where they’re talking about tapering still on the agenda, then you’re likely to see follow-through in US Dollar strength, so by contrast you should see a weaker Canadian Dollar.’
Extensive currency market movement can be expected in the hours ahead but investors will also be looking ahead to Friday’s influential Canadian data, including CPI and retail sales figures.
Current Canadian Dollar (CAD) Exchange Rates
< Down > Up – Little Changed
The Canadian Dollar/US Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9815 <
The Canadian Dollar /Euro Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.7327 >
The Canadian Dollar/Pound Sterling Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.6270 >
The Canadian Dollar/Australian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0323 <
The Canadian Dollar /New Zealand Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.2277 <
The Pound Sterling/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.5966 >
The US Dollar/ Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.0185 <
The Euro/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 1.3648 <
The New Zealand Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.8160 >
The Australian Dollar/Canadian Dollar Exchange Rate is currently in the region of: 0.9687 >
(Correct as of 14:30 GMT)
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