Canadian Dollar Rallies on Higher Oil Prices and Weak US Jobs Data

The Canadian dollar today rallied against its US counterpart as oil prices pressed higher for the third consecutive session boosting the commodity-linked loonie. The USD/CAD currency pair fell from its intra-day highs as the loonie strengthened amid rumours that OPEC and  its allies would agree to  drastic oil supply cuts to  boost oil prices.
The  USD/CAD currency pair today fell from a  high of  1.4224 in  the  early European session to  a  low of  1.4117 in  the  American session and  was near these lows at  the  time of  writing.
The  currency pair headed higher at  the  start of  today’s session driven by  the  stronger greenback before reversing course later in  the  day. The  rally in  crude oil prices as  tracked by  the  West Texas Intermediate, which hit a  high of  28.54 earlier today was mostly responsible for  the  pair’s decline. News that OPEC and  its allies would hold an  emergency meeting on  Monday to  discuss oil production cuts of  up to  10 million barrels per day drove oil prices higher. The  launch of  a  wage subsidy programme by  the  Canadian government to  fight the  coronavirus pandemic also boosted the  loonie.
The  release of  the  disappointing US non-farm payrolls report, which revealed 701,000 job losses versus the  expected 100,000 job losses also contributed to  the  pair’s decline. The  upbeat US ISM non-manufacturing PMI report for  March offered the  pair some relief.
The  currency pair’s future performance is likely to  be affected by  crude oil prices and  geopolitical events.
The  USD/CAD currency pair was trading at  1.4128 as  at  16:07 GMT having dropped from a  high of  1.4224. The  CAD/JPY currency pair was trading at  76.77, having rallied from a  low of  76.07.

If you have any questions, comments, or opinions regarding the Canadian Dollar, feel free to post them using the commentary form below.