RTTN:Canadian Dollar Rises To 2-week High Against Euro
(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against most of its major rivals on Monday as crude oil, the nation's pivotal export, rose as somewhat negative outcome from the European Union summit was counterbalanced by positive economic data from China and Japan.
Crude oil for December delivery rose $88.13 a barrel, up 73 cents from last week's close of $87.40 per barrel. The oil reached a new multi-day low of near $84 per barrel last week on escalating eurozone debt crisis.
China's manufacturing sector expanded for the first time in four months in October, with the purchasing managers' index, or PMI, rebounding to a five-month high of 51.1 in the month from 49.9 in September, flash survey results from Markit Economics showed. Input cost inflation moderated, according to the survey.
Meanwhile, Japanese exports rose 2.4 percent year-over-year in September to 5.980 trillion yen marking the second straight month of expansion, the Ministry of Finance said, beating forecasts for a gain of 1.0 percent following the 2.8 percent increase in the previous month.
The closely watched and highly hyped euro area summit in Brussesl ended fruitless on Sunday, with the major problems remaining unresolved. Investors are now focusing towards Wednesday's summit for further direction as no comprehensive solutions took place on Greece restructuring, recapitalization of banks that hold Greek debt and a further expansion of EFSF.
The Canadian dollar rose to a 2-week high of 1.3925 against the euro, having appreciated by more than 0.7 percent from Asian session's 4-day low of 1.4031.
The loonie is presently worth 1.3935 versus the common currency and a further headway could help the domestic unit to test resistance around the 1.3907 level, at which the 100-day simple moving average level for the pair lies. The pair settled Friday's deals at 1.4026.
Eurozone private sector economy contracted for a second month in October, signaling possibilities that the currency bloc might re-enter a recessionary phase towards the end of the year, results of a closely watched survey revealed today.
The flash composite output index fell to 47.2 in October, the lowest since July 2009, from 49.1 in September, Markit Economics said. While manufacturing output fell for the third month running, services activity slid for the second month.
The services Purchasing Managers' Index came in at 47.2, down from 48.8 in September and below the expected reading of 48.5. Likewise, the manufacturing PMI dropped to 47.3 from 48.5 in the prior month. Economists had expected the index to fall to 48.
(RTTNews) - Extending late last week's winning streak, the Canadian dollar advanced to a 1-week high of 1.0052 against the US dollar around 6:20 am ET and the pair thus moved past the rising 50-day simple moving average level. The loonie is presently worth 1.0073 and a move above its October 17th peak could set its highest mark in nearly 5-weeks.
After having tested Friday's multi-day highs in the Asian session, the Canadian dollar eased to as low as 75.53 against the yen around 7:00 am ET on increasing safe-haven flows into the latter. The loonie-yen pair is presently worth 75.58 with 75.30 seen as the next likely downside target level.
Japan is ready to take decisive actions to halt the gains in yen, reports quoted Japan's Finance Minister Jun Azumi as saying on Monday.
Azumi told reporters that the yen's move on Friday was "an absolutely speculative movement and did not reflect economic fundamentals at all."
"If this becomes excessive, we must take decisive steps" in the currency market, he added.
Azumi's comments came after the yen climbed to a fresh record high of 75.81 against the US dollar on Friday, beating its earlier record high of 75.97 hit on August 19.
