TORONTO: The Canadian dollar strengthened to its highest in nearly three weeks against the greenback on Friday as stocks and oil prices climbed and after domestic data showed further jobs gains, ahead of next week's interest rate decision by the Bank of Canada.
At 3:38 p.m. (2038 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading 0.7 percent higher at 1.3399 to the greenback, or 74.63 US cents. The currency touched its strongest level since Dec. 17 at 1.3381.
For the week, the loonie was up 1.8 percent, its biggest advance since September.
"The Canadian dollar has been a strong performer," said Alfonso Esparza, a senior currency analyst at OANDA. "We have seen some sort of recovery in oil prices and also the job numbers were solid. Following the huge November data point we expected a bit of a slowdown."
Canada added 9,300 jobs in December on an increase in part-time hiring, slightly more than markets had expected after a record 94,100 jobs were created in the previous month, Statistics Canada data indicated.
Still, money markets expect the Bank of Canada to leave its benchmark interest rate on hold at 1.75 percent next week and through the rest of the year. In November, before a sell-off in stocks and oil prices deepened, the market had expected rates to rise to about 2.50 percent by the end of 2019.
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, climbed on Friday after proposed trade talks between the United States and China eased some fears about a global economic slowdown. US crude oil futures settled 1.9 percent higher at $47.96 a barrel.
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