The Canadian dollar is down another 0.4% this morning for a loss of 1.7% this week and now trading near its lowest levels since the beginning of August. Yesterday’s Bank of Canada releases can be characterized as “we are not changing a thing until we are well through the crisis.” The Bank went out of its way to emphasize that not only will it keep interest rates low until 2023 but that any changes to its quantitative easing efforts would not reduce monetary stimulus for the economy. That, however, was not the story of the day. The global stock sell-off in stocks that started in Europe and got worse in North America was the main factor in the market. The sell-off has stopped for the moment but the volatility continues. Compounding the pressures on the Loonie, oil is now trading at its lowest levels since June. Stocks, oil, and the Canadian dollar, all considered risk assets, all are responding to changing risk/sentiment perceptions in the market.
