RTTN: Canadian Dollar Plummets To 16-day Low Against Yen, 9-day Low Against Euro And Greenback
(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar staged a steep slide against its major rivals in early New York trading on Thursday. The petro-linked loonie plunged as crude oil prices shed nearly $1.5 per barrel. The loonie tumbled to a 16-day low against the yen and a 9-day low versus the currencies of the US and Europe.
Light sweet crude oil price for December delivery is presently quoted at $78.16 a barrel, down $1.42 from its previous close of $79.58 a barrel in New York on Wednesday. Earlier in the day, the prices touched as low as $77.96 per barrel.
In economic news, the Canadian wholesale sales rose 0.2 percent to C$41 billion in September, the statistics agency said. That trailed the 1 percent forecast of economists. In a separate report, Statistics Canada said the index of leading economic indicators rose for a fourth month in October, climbing 0.7 percent.
The Canadian dollar that closed yesterday's deals at 84.72 against the Japanese yen lost more than 2 percent to reach a 16-day low of 83.05 by 9:50 am ET. The loonie-yen pair is presently worth 83.14 with 82.7 seen as the next target level.
Japan's all industry activity dropped a seasonally adjusted 0.6% month-on-month in September, compared to the 0.9% increase in the previous month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry reported today. This was the first monthly decline in all industry activity since March 2009, when the index slumped 1.6%. Economists had expected the index to remain flat in September.
On a yearly basis, all industry activity plunged 7.1% in September, faster than the downwardly revised 6.7% decrease in the preceding month.
Against the euro, the Canadian dollar reached a 9-day low of 1.5906 by 10:15 am ET. This was down by more than 0.75 percent from yesterday's close of 1.5786. On the downside, the Canadian dollar may find target around the 1.595 level.
The Federal Statistical Office of Germany said the number of persons in employment decreased by 0.2% or about 81,000 year-on-year in the third quarter compared to a 0.1% rise in the second quarter. The statistical office said the third quarter decline in employment was the first since the corresponding period in 2005.
The Canadian dollar also slumped to a 9-day low of 1.0692 against the US dollar by 9:50 am ET and the pair leveled off thereafter. If the loonie ticks down further, support is seen around the 1.079 level. The greenback-loonie pair that closed yesterday's deals at 1.055 is currently quoted at 1.068.
