Oil gain helps stronger Canadian dollar

The Canadian dollar made a slight gain against its US counterpart on Friday but posted its sharpest weekly decline versus the greenback since May as the two countries' central banks extended the divergence in their policy views. The loonie, as the Canadian currency is colloquially known, hit a nearly two-month low before turning stronger as rising oil prices lent support. It lost more than 2 percent over the week.
"The Canadian dollar was beaten up this week as the Federal Reserve unambiguously signalled an imminent rate hike while the Bank of Canada insisted it's in no rush to get off the floor," said Adam Button, currency analyst at ForexLive in Montreal. The loonie settled near its strongest level of the day at C$1.3379 to the greenback, or 74.74 US cents on Friday, compared to Thursday's close of C$1.3399, or 74.63 US cents, and after touching its weakest since January 4 at C$1.3437.
US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen capped off a seemingly coordinated push with comments that cemented the view that the Fed will raise interest rates at its March 14-15 meeting, and likely be able to move faster after that than it has in years. Comments from other Fed speakers earlier this week had already pushed market pricing of a March hike to 80 percent.
Meanwhile, the Bank of Canada on Wednesday held rates steady as it stayed focused on the "significant uncertainties" facing the economy, including the policies of US President Donald Trump. "The Bank of Canada is being extremely cautious despite excellent economic data since the start of the year," Button said. Data from Thursday showing Canada's economy grew more than expected in the fourth quarter was seen as unlikely to shift the Bank of Canada's stance.
Policy divergence will pressure the loonie over the coming months, a Reuters poll predicted. Oil prices surged on Friday, as a weaker US dollar encouraged buying, but investors remained cautious after Russian production figures showed weak compliance with a global deal to cut output. Canadian government bond prices were mixed across the yield curve, with the two-year up 1.5 Canadian cents to yield 0.765 percent and the 10-year falling 3 Canadian cents to yield 1.700 percent.