Daily FX Commentary, February 22, 2011

By Warren Hayhoe,

Columnist, Canadian Money Magazine

Central Trader, Jameson Bank

USD/CAD 0.9869
GBP/CAD 1.5940
EUR/USD 1.3680
GBP/USD 1.6160
EUR/CAD 1.3490
USD/JPY 83.20

 
Oil opened at $86.20, currently $92.40

Gold opened at $1388.20, currently $1397.30

Morning Observations:

The correlation between crude prices and the Loonie is being called into question this morning as a nearly 8% jump in crude prices has gone largely unnoticed by the canuck buck. The escalating tensions in Libya have now filtered their way into global markets,  equities are broadly lower to the tune of 1-2% hence the US dollar is better through most crosses with the exception of the euro and Swiss franc. Hawkish comments from ECB council member Mersch prompted a slumping EURUSD to turn on it’s heals early this morning, from a 1.3525 low it now sit at 1.3675. It’s a shortened week but there is plenty of data due out on either side of the boarder and today Canadian retail sales at 8:30am and US consumer confidence at 10:00am will command most of the attention. Last week USDCAD was contained to a unprecedented 0.9816-0.9905 range and today’s expected range in USDCAD should be no different: 0.9820-0.9900.

 Thought of the Day

“Every man's dream is to be able to sink into the arms of a woman without also falling into her hands.”  --  Jerry Lewis