The Canadian dollar has not showed any signs of letting up since it began its rise, which saw it gain close to 1% last week and close to 9% since its low point in May. Canadian inflation generated annualized growth of +1% for June and retail sales proved a pleasant surprise with growth of +0.6% in May compared with a projected +0.3%.
The loonie stayed on track on Friday despite a decline of more than 2% in crude oil prices with WTI closing out the day at USD 45.77/barrel. We can see that since the change in tone from the Bank of Canada, the correlation between the Canadian dollar and the price of crude oil has decreased, although oil nevertheless remains an important factor that bears watching. OPEC member nations are in Russia today, meeting in St. Petersburg to discuss the possibility of implementing an output limit in Nigeria and Libya, two countries that were initially exempted from production restrictions.
On Wednesday, the Fed will share its opinion on the appropriateness of current interest rates with regard to the U.S. economy. On Friday, we will get a look at U.S. Q2 2017 GDP.
Yusuf Kocagozli
Range of the day: 1.2460 – 1.2575