Canadian dollar edges lower as higher oil price fails to spur currency

Kitco Media
By Reuters
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Reuters
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TORONTO, March 11 (Reuters) - The Canadian dollar edged lower against its U.S. counterpart ‌on Wednesday as the greenback notched broad-based gains and investors gave the loonie little credit for recent gains in crude oil.

The loonie was trading 0.1% lower at 1.3590 per U.S. dollar, ​or 73.58 U.S. cents, after moving in a range of 1.3556 to ​1.3605.

The U.S. dollar (.DXY), rose against a basket of major currencies as ⁠investors remained on edge over further escalation in the Middle East conflict that ​has driven up energy prices worldwide. The price of oil , one of Canada's major exports, ​settled 4.55% higher at $87.25 a barrel.

Canada will look at ways to increase its crude production to help global efforts to stabilize oil prices in the face of the Iran war, Natural Resources Minister ​Tim Hodgson said.

"Clearly, oil at $80 is a huge tailwind for the Canadian terms ​of trade and investment but it's not reflected at all in the currency at the moment, ‌in ⁠large part because it's seen as temporary but also because there's this cloud of trade negotiations," said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at investingLive.

The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which has shielded much of Canada's exports from U.S. tariffs, is set for review ​by a July 1 ​deadline.

Canadian trade data ⁠for January is due on Thursday and the February employment report is set for the end of the week, which ​could guide expectations for next week's Bank of Canada interest ​rate decision.

Investors ⁠have moved in recent days to price in an interest rate hike this year after the spike in oil prices raised concerns globally about the outlook for inflation. 0#CADIRPR, opens new tab

Canadian bond ⁠yields ​moved higher across the curve, tracking moves in U.S. ​Treasuries after U.S. consumer prices picked up in February.

The 10-year was up 7.4 basis points at 3.484%, ​marking its highest level since January 2.

Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Alistair Bell

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