RTTN: Canadian Dollar Plunges Against Major Rivals
(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar traded lower against major currencies during New York morning trading on Wednesday. The loonie dropped to more than a 1-month low versus the euro, 2-week lows versus the Australian dollar and the yen.
On the economic front, the Statistics Canada reported that manufacturing sales declined 0.8 percent in November to C$44.9 billion. Economists expected manufacturing sales to rise 1 percent, following the revised 1.2 percent advance recorded in October.
Yesterday, the Bank of Canada held its overnight target rate unchanged at 1 percent amid concerns about the rapid strengthening of the nation's currency. The decision to hold steady on interest rates was widely expected.
The loonie extended its European session's downward trading against the euro in New York morning deals today. At 8:30 am ET, the loonie slipped to more than a 1-month low of 1.3442 versus the euro, compared to yesterday's close of 1.3275. Thereafter, the pair reversed its direction and currently trading near 1.3390.
Against its Japanese counterpart, the loonie declined further in today's morning session and as of now trading at a 2-week low of 82.59 from Tuesday's closing value of 83.31. On the downside, 82.48 is seen as the next target level for the Canadian unit.
The loonie that closed yesterday's North American session at 0.9911 versus the Australian dollar, edged down and plummeted to a 2-week low of 1.0001 as of 8:30 am ET today. At present, the loonie is trading at 0.9985 versus the Aussie.
After edging up to 0.9891 by about 8:00 am ET, the Canadian currency reversed its direction against the US dollar in today's morning deals and currently trading near a 5-day low of 0.9944. At yesterday's close, the pair was quoted at 0.9915.
In the economic news from U.S., the Commerce Department released a report today showed that housing starts fell 4.3 percent to an annual rate of 529,000 in December from the revised November estimate of 553,000. Economists had expected housing starts to edge down to 550,000 from the 555,000 originally reported for the previous month.
