The Canadian dollar CADUSD on Wednesday barely moved against its U.S. counterpart but lost ground to the other G10 currencies as oil prices rose and investors turned their attention to the release of minutes from the Federal Reserve’s latest meeting.
The loonie was nearly unchanged at 1.2711 to the greenback, or 78.67 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.2698 to 1.2739. It was the only G10 currency not to strengthen against the greenback.
The minutes from the Fed’s December meeting, due at 2 p.m. ET (1900 GMT), could provide clues on the timing of the central bank’s first interest rate hike. Bond yields have surged this week on bets that tightening could occur as soon as March.
The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, rose after OPEC+ producers stuck to an agreed output target rise for February and investors assessed the impact of a spike in COVID-19 cases caused by the Omicron variant.
U.S. crude prices were up 1 per cent at $77.76 a barrel.
Meanwhile, domestic data showed that the value of building permits increased by 6.8 per cent in November from October.
Canada’s employment report for December, due on Friday, could offer further clues on the strength of the domestic economy.
Canadian government bond yields edged lower across the curve, with the 10-year down half a basis point at 1.585 per cent. On Tuesday, it touched its highest intraday level in more than one month at 1.624 per cent.
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