The Canadian dollar erased its losses against its US counterpart as core inflation data was better than predicted and after prices for crude oil jumped. The currency was flat against the Japanese yen and fell versus the euro.
Annual consumer price inflation was 2.6 percent in February, while core inflation was 2.5 percent. Inflation was below forecast, while core inflation was above the predicted value. On month-over-month basis, the Consumer Price Index rose 0.4 percent last month, exactly as forecasters predicted, and core CPI also advanced 0.4 percent, slightly above forecasts.
Crude oil prices also provided a support to the loonie. Futures for delivery of crude oil in May gained $1.53 to $106.88 per barrel. Crude is the main export of Canada.
USD/CAD traded at 0.9976 as of 20:53 GMT today after earlier it advanced from 0.9993 to 1.0033 — the highest level since February 27. CAD/JPY was down from 82.61 to 82.49 after sliding to 81.83, the lowest since March 8. Meanwhile, EUR/CAD rose from 1.3184 to 1.3241 and the daily maximum of 1.3287 was the highest since February 29.
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