Higher Oil Prices Boosts CAD To 3-Week High

 | Apr 09, 2019 09:16

The Canadian dollar has posted slight losses on Tuesday, after starting the week with considerable gains. Currently, USD/CAD is trading at 1.3295, down 0.18% on the day. On the release front, there are no Canadian releases on the schedule. In the U.S., the highlight is JOLTS Job Openings, which is expected to drop to 7.54 million. On Wednesday, the U.S. releases consumer inflation data. CPI is expected to improve to 0.3% and Core CPI is projected to climb to 0.2%. As well, the FOMC releases the minutes of the March policy meeting.

On Wednesday, the spotlight will be on the Federal Reserve, which releases the minutes of the March meeting. At the meeting, the Fed said it would start tapering the reduction of its balance sheet in May. This marks a loosening of policy, and comes in response to weaker economic data out of the U.S. in recent months. The minutes should be treated as a market-mover, and if investors don’t like what they hear, risk apprehension could jump and send the Canadian dollar lower.

Oil prices continue to point upwards and have pushed above $64 for the first time since early November. Civil unrest in Libya could mean that the upward trend will continue. Canada is a major oil producer, so the rise in oil prices has been good news for the Canadian currency, which is trading at its highest level since March 21. The Canadian dollar has also benefited from stronger risk appetite, as investors are optimistic that the bruising global trade war could dramatically ease, as trade talks between the U.S. and China have made substantial progress.

USD/CAD Fundamentals

Tuesday (April 9)

  • 10:00 US JOLTS Job Openings. Estimate 7.54M

Wednesday (April 10)

  • 8:30 US CPI. Estimate 0.3%
  • 8:30 US Core CPI. Estimate 0.2%
  • 14:00 US FOMC Meeting Minutes

*All release times are DST

*Key events are in bold

USD/CAD for Tuesday, April 9, 2019