Lower oil prices and a renewed sense of risk aversion are keeping the loonie down against major foreign currencies on Wednesday morning. Currently, West Texas Intermediate crude oil futures are down $0.28 per barrel to $59.05. The $57.71 session low marks the lowest oil has been since Jan. 18 2007. "With oil prices settling below US$60/b, USD/CAD is dipping its toes into levels above 1.21. A clear break is not yet in place, but a bullish USD/CAD backdrop is," wrote RBC Capital Markets senior currency strategist David Watt, who is calling for a daily trading range of 1.1990-1.2200. Meanwhile, equity futures are down ahead of the 9:30 a.m. EST session open. Contracts on the Dow Jones industrial average are down 140 points to 8497, while S&P futures are down 16.70 points to 876.30. The Canadian dollar selloff is widespread, with the loonie down 0.0037 against the euro and down 0.81 points against the Japanese yen. The dollar is also down 0.0113 to 1.2487 against the Australian dollar, but trending higher. Bank of New York Mellon's Neil Mellor believes things are heading south for the Australian dollar, generally speaking. He points to falling commodity prices as well general market pessimism in the global economy as reasons why the currency will continue to suffer. ...Continued CEP Newswires - CEP News © 2008. All Rights Reserved. www.economicnews.ca The Copying, Broadcast, Republication or Redistribution of CEP News Content is Expressly Prohibited Without the Prior Written Consent of CEP News.

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