RTTN: Canadian dollar drops to multi-day lows against most majors
The Canadian currency plummeted to multi-day lows against most of its major opponents in late morning trading on Wednesday. The loonie declined to 5-day lows against the euro and the US dollar and a 2-day low against the Japanese yen.
The petro-dependent loonie tumbled after crude oil plunged again today as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries cut its world demand forecast. Light sweet crude for November delivery moved to $75.62, down $3.01 on the session. Earlier, oil hit as low as $74.97, dropping below $75 for the first time in more than a year.
OPEC said it expects demand of 31.14 million barrels per day in 2009, down 190,000 bpd from last month's expectations. OPEC output was at 32.16 barrels per day in September, down 310,000 bpd. OPEC is expected to cut its output by 1 million barrels per day at an extraordinary meeting on Nov. 18 in Vienna.
The Canadian dollar dropped to 1.1775 against the greenback by 10:50 am ET Wednesday, the lowest level since 10th of this month. This may be compared to yesterday's North American session closing value of 1.1628. As of now, the greenback-loonie pair is trading at 1.1765.
In economic news from US, a Department of Labor report showed that the producer price index fell by 0.4 percent in September following an unrevised 0.9 percent decrease in August. The continued decrease in prices matched the consensus estimate of economists.
Meanwhile, a Department of Commerce report showed that retail sales fell by 1.2 percent in September following a revised 0.4 percent decrease in August. Economists had expected a more modest decrease in sales of about 0.7 percent compared to the 0.3 percent decrease originally reported for the previous month.
At the same time, a report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed that the general business conditions index fell to a record low of negative 24.6 in October from a negative 7.4 in September, with a negative reading indicating a contraction in the sector. Economists had expected the index to come in at a negative 10.0.
