Canadian Dollar Falls As Oil Prices Slide

01:58, 27th November 2014

(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar weakened against the other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, as crude oil prices fell after a report showed crude stockpiles in the U.S. increased more than expected last week and with investors focused on the upcoming crucial OPEC meet in Vienna today.

Crude oil for January delivery is currently down $0.93 to $72.76 a barrel.

Uncertainties continued over the possibility of a consensus to trim production, with some unconfirmed reports indicating the OPEC meet may see member countries arrive at a compromise formula to cut production.

Right now, OPEC members are divided on whether to cut supplies in order to lift crude oil prices at the forthcoming meeting. The Saudis have already stated that would rather have lower prices than agreeing for a production cut.

Oil prices also came under pressure after some soft economic data out of the U.S., with first-time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly increasing last week, while a Thomson Reuters and the University of Michigan report showed consumer sentiment to have improved less than previously estimated in November.

In the New York session overnight, the Canadian dollar was higher against most major rivals. Nevertheless, the Canadian dollar showed mixed trading on Wednesday. While the Canadian dollar fell against the yen and the euro, it rose against the U.S. and Australian dollars.

In the Asian trading, the Canadian dollar fell to a 6-day low of 104.13 against the yen and a 2-day low of 0.9685 against the Australian dollar from yesterday's closing quotes of 104.63 and 0.9609, respectively. If the loonie extends its downtrend, it is likely to find support around 103.07 against the yen and 0.98 against the aussie.

Against the U.S. dollar and the euro, the loonie edged down to 1.1268 and 1.4090 from yesterday's closing quotes of 1.1242 and 1.4061, respectively. On the downside, 1.13 against the greenback and 1.42 against the euro are seen as the next supports level for the loonie.

Looking ahead, German unemployment data for November, Eurozone M3 money supply data for October,economic sentiment index for November and GfK consumer sentiment index for December are due to be released in the European session.

In the New York session, German preliminary CPI data for November and Canadian current account data for third quarter are due to be released.

U.S. financial markets are closed in observance of Thanksgiving day holiday.