USD to CAD is currently at 1.253 (CAD to USD at 0.798). The US dollar is trading half a penny higher than prior to the long weekend (for most Canadians). Year-to-date, USD is down 2.5 pennies against CAD but still 5 pennies higher than its early June lows. Stocks are up again this morning and continue to trade at or near record levels as corporate earnings, for the most part, blow past expectations. Oil is down nearly 5% from Friday as mixed economic data from China and the US, the world’s largest energy consumers, has stoked concerns about future demand for Canada’s leading export. Looming on the economic calendar are July employment figures, set to be released in both Canada and the US on Friday. Overall, the picture for the exchange rate remains mixed. While stocks remain at near record levels and the Fed remains accommodative (good for the Canadian dollar), concerns about the delta variant impacting the pace of global economic recovery continue to percolate (bad for the Canadian dollar).
