(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar rallied against its major counterparts in early trading on Wednesday as crude oil edged slightly higher ahead of the New York session. The price of crude oil rose slightly as traders await cues from the official weekly inventories data from the EIA, due out later during the session. Light Sweet Crude Oil futures for February delivery is currently trading at $91.17 a barrel, up $0.06 from Tuesday's close of $91.11. Yesterday, oil gained over 2% as the closure of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline entered fourth day. The EIA will release its weekly U.S. crude oil inventories report at 10:30 am ET. Analysts expect crude oil inventories to drop by 1.4 million barrels, while gasoline stocks are seen rising by 2.1 million barrels. The Canadian dollar advanced to more than 84.50 against the Japanese yen around 7:25 am ET Wednesday for the first time since August 6, 2010. The loonie-yen pair is presently worth 84.59 with 85.30 seen as the next likely resistance level. Japan posted a current account surplus of 926.2 billion yen in November, the Ministry of Finance said today. That was lower than the forecasts for a surplus of 972.5 billion yen after showing a surplus of 1.436 trillion yen in October. The November figure marked a decline of 15.7% on year, again shy of estimates for an 11.8% annual contraction following the 2.9% increase in the previous month. Japan saw a trade surplus of 259.7 billion yen, below forecasts for a surplus of 297.7 billion yen after posting a surplus of 912.9 billion yen a month earlier. The Canadian dollar appreciated almost 0.7 percent to reach a 2-day high of 1.2796 against the euro around 7:55 am ET from 1.2887 hit earlier in the session. The euro-loonie pair is presently worth 1.28 with 1.27 seen as the next likely target level. The euro pared its earlier gains even after Portugal's successful bond auction, with Portugal selling 10-year bonds at 6.716%. The German economy expanded strongly in 2010, figures from the Federal Statistical Office showed today. The increase in the price-adjusted gross domestic product was 3.6%, the largest since German reunification, the statistical office said. In 2009, GDP had slumped heavily by 4.7%. Upon calendar adjustment, the GDP growth rate was 3.5% in 2010 compared to prior year's 4.7% contraction. French current account, Italian and euro-zone industrial production data-all for November, which were released today likely influenced the euro. Investors are cautious ahead of tomorrow's European Central Bank interest rate decision.

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