Ella 
USD/CAD extended losses for the third consecutive day in Asia on Friday, falling to around 1.3390. The USD/CAD currency pair is facing challenges from the sluggish U.S. dollar, which may be attributed to falling U.S. Treasury yields.
Market watchers expect Bank of Canada Governor Steve McCollum to attend the meeting on Friday. The event is potentially important and attendees are expected to pay close attention to any insights or remarks it makes on Canada’s economic outlook and monetary policy.
Affected by 2024 oil demand expectations and a weak U.S. dollar, WTI oil prices in Asia traded around $72.30 on Friday. Given that Canada is the largest oil exporter to the United States, rising WTI oil prices may support the Canadian dollar against the US dollar.
The U.S. dollar index (DXY) fell to a four-month low of 101.77 on Thursday and was trading around 101.90 at press time. The dollar’s bearish momentum continues after the Fed’s statement. The U.S. Federal Reserve is taking a cautious stance on interest rates and is likely to adopt looser monetary policy in 2024, which has contributed to continued weakness in the U.S. dollar.
Although U.S. economic data was better than expected, with retail sales rising 0.3% month-on-month in November, vs. -0.1% expected, and 202,000 U.S. initial jobless claims last week vs. 220,000 expected, support for the dollar remains limited. Investors may look to Friday’s S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index for further insight into the state of the U.S. economy.
