The Canadian dollar CADUSD was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, consolidating its recent gains for a second day, as oil prices climbed and investors awaited a key U.S. inflation report.
The loonie was trading nearly unchanged at 1.3420 per U.S. dollar, or 74.52 U.S. cents, after moving in a range of 1.3405 to 1.3445.
It follows a modest decline for the currency on Tuesday after touching a six-week high at 1.3355 on Monday.
Supporting the currency, domestic jobs data last Friday raised expectations for additional tightening by the Bank of Canada later this month and risk appetite has improved since the start of the year.
The S&P 500 advanced on Wednesday to a four-week high as investors were optimistic ahead of U.S. consumer price index data on Thursday that could give the Federal Reserve room to dial back its aggressive interest rate hikes.
The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, rose for a fifth consecutive day as hopes for an improved global economic outlook and concern over the impact of sanctions on Russian crude output outweighed a massive surprise build in U.S. crude stocks.
U.S. crude oil futures settled 3.05% higher at $77.41 a barrel.
Canadian government bond yields fell across a flatter curve. The 10-year was down 11.2 basis points at 3.008%, its lowest level since Dec. 21.