The Canadian dollar rose as the North American stocks rallied after the hostile bid for the Potash Corp. by the BHP Billiton Ltd., which increased the appeal of the growth-linked assets.
The future for crude oil, Canada’s main export, slid as much as 2.6 percent to $73.83 on NYMEX, the lowest level since July 7th. The slump of the oil prices was overshadowed by the rally of the stocks after the BHP offered $130 in cash for each Potash share ($40 billion for the whole deal). The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 0.2 percent after it declined earlier.
The investors reduced bets that the Bank of Canada will raise the interest rates as the US economy shows the signs of the weakness. The forecasts delayed the parity of the Canadian dollar with its US counterpart till 2011.
USD/CAD traded at 1.0268 today as of 23:17 GMT after it opened at 1.0319. EUR/CAD fell to 1.3189 from the opening level of 1.3295.
The Japanese yen rose today as the renewed concerns that the recovery of the global economy is losing the traction fueled the demand for the safer assets.
The Australian dollar fell today against the Japanese yen on the speculation that Japan’s central bank will refrain from curbing the yen’s gains and after Australia’s wages growth slowed. The Aussie also dropped versus the greenback.
The Thai baht went up today on the speculation that the fast growth of the Asian nations would attract more investors to the region, increasing the appeal of the Asian currencies.
The Chinese yuan declined today after the US currency rallied and the central bank lowered the reference rate; the increasing exports and the resulting trade surplus weren’t able to support the currency.
The euro endured hard times this year as the financial crisis in the European Union made us question the very existence of the currency. Therefore, the rally it showed this summer was rather unexpected. The experts expected the rally to end soon, perhaps even this month. Does the outlook changed? Not much, though it became somewhat more bullish.
The New Zealand dollar fell today after the report showed that the house prices increased with slower pace, causing the speculation that the central bank wouldn’t raise the interest rates next month.
The South Korean won extended its rally for yet another day as the anticipation that the central bank would raise the interest rates increased the appeal of the currency.
The US currency rose today against the euro and the Japanese yen after the reports showed that the US employers added more jobs than expected and the service industries expanded with increasing pace.
The South African rand fell today as the growing concerns about the global economy, caused by the signs of the US economic expansion�s slowdown, damped the demand for the currencies of the emerging markets.
The Swiss franc fell today against the US dollar and the euro, as the rally of the equities damped the demand for the currency as the safe haven, despite of the favorable fundamentals.
The Great Britain pound strengthened today against the US currency to the highest level in almost six months as the economic data showed that Britain�s economy expanded faster than the analysts anticipated.
The Indian rupee rose today after the central bank increased the interest rates for the fourth time this year, raising the yield on local assets.
The�Swiss franc rose reached today the�highest level this week against the�euro after the�leading economic indicators remained at�the�highest level in�almost four years.
The�US dollar performance was abysmal this week as�concern about the�slowdown of�the�US economic growth persists and�even the�good news weren�t able to�weaken the�fears. The�dollar fell versus all other major currencies this month.