TORONTO: The Canadian dollar barely moved against its US counterpart on Monday as data showed speculators turning bullish on the currency for the first time in two months and attention turned to central bank meetings this week.
The loonie was trading nearly unchanged at 1.2381 to the greenback, or 80.77 US cents, after trading in a range of 1.2370 to 1.2403.
Speculators were net long 3,320 contracts of the Canadian dollar as of Oct. 26, swinging from net short 10,924 contracts in the prior week, data on Friday from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission showed.
August was the last time that the number of contracts was net long.
Canadian manufacturing activity grew in October at the fastest pace in seven months as a pick-up in new orders and hiring offset mounting supply chain pressures. The IHS Markit Canada Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to a seasonally adjusted 57.7 in October from 57.0 in September.
The price of oil, one of Canada's major exports, was supported by expectations of strong demand. US crude prices were up 1.5% at $84.80 a barrel, while world stocks kicked off a big week for central bank meetings near record highs.
Stocks were undeterred by concerns of interest rate hikes that have instead hit bonds hard.
The Federal Reserve is expected on Wednesday to say it will start to taper bond purchases, though markets' focus is on clues about rates lift-off.
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