Canadian dollar steadies as bond yields, commodity prices climb

The Canadian dollar CADUSD was little changed against its US counterpart on Tuesday as higher commodity prices offset increased investor nervousness about the timing of interest rate cuts.

The loonie was almost unchanged at 1.3570 to the US dollar, or 73.69 US cents, after trading in a range of 1.3557 to 1.3584. It extends the sideways pattern for the USD-CAD currency pair in recent months.

“I think the market is waiting for a crack in the US or Canadian economy to dictate the next move in USD-CAD,” said Adam Button, chief currency analyst at ForexLive. “There has been some broader US dollar strength, but it’s mitigated by higher commodity prices.”

Canada is a major producer of commodities, including gold, which notched a fresh record high, and oil.

US crude oil futures settled 1.7 per cent higher at $85.15 a barrel as oil supplies faced fresh threats from Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy facilities, while Wall Street’s main indexes dropped as recent strong economic data raised doubts over the three rate cuts that the Fed has outlined for this year.

The Bank of Canada is also expected to start cutting rates this year, but probably not as soon as a policy announcement next week. Canada’s jobs report for March, due on Friday, could offer clues on the strength of the domestic economy.

Economists forecast a gain of 25,000 jobs.

“We have a series of top-tier data coming up. I expect much more volatility before the week is out,” Button said.

Canadian government bond yields moved higher across the curve, tracking moves in US Treasuries. The 10-year was up 3.2 basis points at 3,620 per cent, after earlier touching its highest level since Feb. 13 at 3,678 per cent.