(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against its major opponents on Tuesday morning in New York as crude-oil futures gained ground following a report indicating the U.S. consumer confidence rebounded in March. The loonie advanced to a multi-month high against the yen and new multi-day highs against the euro and the U.S. dollar. Oil prices was marginally higher today after gaining nearly 3% yesterday. Oil for May delivery rose 0.15 cents or 0.18 percent to $82.32 per barrel at 10:29 am ET. In economic news, Statistics Canada said the Industrial Product Price Index (IPPI) was unchanged in February, after advancing for the past three month. Meanwhile, the Raw Materials Price Index (RMPI) was up 0.4%, largely due to higher prices oft mineral fuels. The Canadian dollar climbed to its strongest level in more than 17 months against the Japanese yen in early New York deals today. The loonie advanced to 91.53 against the yen around 9:50 am ET, up 1 percent from Monday's close of 90.59. The pair is presently quoted at 91.29. Japan's unemployment rate and the industrial production reports- both for February released earlier in the day likely influenced the yen. Against the US dollar, the loonie advanced to a 6-day high of 1.0160 before rebounding briefly around 10:00 am ET and this may be compared to yesterday's close of 1.0213. On the upside, the Canadian currency may find resistance around the 1.0060 level. Currently, the greenback-loonie pair is quoted at 1.0188. The Conference Board said its consumer confidence index jumped to 52.5 in March from an upwardly revised 46.4 in February. Economists had expected the index to rise to 51.0 from the 46.0 originally reported for the previous month. Earlier in the day, a report released by Standard and Poor's showed that the S&P/Case-Shiller 20 city home price index fell at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in January compared to the 3.1 percent decline reported for February. The modest decrease in prices came in line with economist estimates. The Canadian dollar climbed to a 4-day high of 1.3658 against the euro around 10:10 am ET from Monday's closing quote of 1.3769. The euro-loonie pair is presently worth 1.3680 with 1.3580 seen as the next target level. Germany's Federal Statistical Office announced that the import prices increased 1.0% in February, outpacing forecasts of more modest growth of 0.4% from January's 1.7% jump. Year-over-year, Germany's import price index rose 2.6% in February, also exceeding expectations of a 2% increase over January's 1.4% growth.

Source