Markets

C$ holds steady in thin markets; Bank of Canada eyed

Published May 25, 2015 Updated May 25, 2015 08:48pm

TORONTO: The Canadian dollar was steady against its US counterpart on Monday in light holiday trading and ahead of a busy week in Canadian economic news.

Investors are focused on the Bank of Canada's interest rate decision on Wednesday and first-quarter economic growth data on Friday.

The loonie's pause comes after a retreat to a five-week low on Friday and with US and many European markets closed for various holidays.

At 9:14 a.m. EDT (1314 GMT), the Canadian dollar was trading at C$1.2299 to the greenback, or 81.31 US cents, little changed from the Bank of Canada's official close of C$1.2301, or 81.29 US cents on Friday.

The currency traded within a relatively narrow range of between C$1.2276 and C$1.2307.

The price of oil, a key Canadian export and driver for the currency, was just marginally lower. US crude was down 0.47 percent at $59.44, while Brent crude lost 0.06 percent to $65.33.

The loonie, which was weaker than most of its key currency counterparts, is expected to trade between C$1.2250 and C$1.2320 against the US dollar on Monday, according to RBC Capital Markets.

Canadian government bond prices were generally higher across the maturity curve, with the two-year price up 1.5 Canadian cents to yield 0.673 percent and the benchmark 10-year rising 15 Canadian cents to yield 1.755 percent.

The Canada-US two-year bond spread was 5.5 basis points, while the 10-year spread was -46.0 basis points.

Copyright Reuters, 2015