Finance News

Story: Canadian Dollar Drops as Oil Surges Past $95 Amid Rate Hike Fears

By Pankaj K

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Fed Decision Adds Another Layer of Pressure. And then there's the U.S. Federal Reserve. Its policy meeting is coming up, and the loonie can't…

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Commodities Broader Than Just Oil. Oil isn't the only Canadian export seeing price swings right now.

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The loonie dropped Thursday. Oil was surging past $95 a barrel for Brent crude, and instead of lifting Canada's currency the way it usually does, the rally was spooking traders…

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Canada is a major oil exporter. That's not news. For years, a jump in crude prices meant a stronger Canadian dollar, almost automatically.

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No new guidance, no signal, no press release clarifying where rates go from here. The central bank's next steps remain murky, and that silence is probably making things worse.

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So the loonie is kind of getting squeezed from both sides. Domestic inflation worries on one end, U.S. monetary policy uncertainty on the other.

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See also: Yen Soars Near Seven-Month High as BOJ Rate Decision Approaches for Dollar Traders

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The traditional story — oil up, loonie up — made sense when the dominant market narrative was about Canadian export revenues.

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Oil isn't the only Canadian export seeing price swings right now. Other commodities Canada ships abroad are also moving around, which adds more variables to an already…

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Market participants are watching. Closely. Any statement from the Bank of Canada — even a vague one — would probably move the currency. But so far, nothing.

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The Fed's decision is the more immediate catalyst at this point. If U.S. rates shift, or if Fed officials signal something markets weren't expecting, the ripple effects will hit…

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Related: Goldman Sachs Shifts to Fed Rate Hike, Sparking Concerns for Crypto Markets

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There's also the broader global backdrop to keep in mind. Central banks around the world are navigating similar tensions — commodity prices, inflation persistence, the risk of…

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Investors aren't panicking. But they're not relaxed either. The loonie's dip Thursday was a pretty clear signal that the market is repricing risk around Canadian monetary policy,…

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No explicit guidance from Ottawa yet. Brent crude above $95. The Fed meeting still ahead.

The Currency Analytics

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