The Canadian dollar plummeted against its major counterparts ahead of the Wall Street opens on Friday as oil prices tumbled below $76 per barrel. The loonie plunged to an 18-day low against the Japanese yen and a 9-day low versus the currencies of US and Europe.
Crude oil declined for a second day on a resurgent dollar. U.S. crude for January delivery fell as low as $1.03 to $76.9 a barrel today. The crude oil is currently trading at $76.53 per barrel, down 93 cents.
The Canadian dollar slumped to an 18-day low of 82.9 against the Japanese yen before leveling off around 7:00 am ET. The loonie-yen pair that was worth 83.69 at Thursday's close is currently quoted at 83.12. The next downside target for the pair is likely to be seen around the 82.7 level.
Earlier today, the Bank of Japan board members unanimously decided to leave the uncollateralized overnight call rate unchanged at 0.1% as expected. Upgrading its assessment, the BoJ said Japan's economy is picking up, although the momentum of self-sustaining recovery in domestic private demand remains weak.
The Canadian currency also reached a 9-day low of 1.0735 against the greenback and 1.5918 versus the euro at this time and this may be compared to yesterday's closing values of 1.0638 and 1.5878, respectively. If the loonie declines further, support levels are seen at 1.60 against the euro and 1.078 versus the buck.
Germany's Finance Ministry pointed out that the economy could grow at a slower pace in the fourth quarter, as uncertainty in the job market and income levels hit private spending. Moreover, the ministry pointed out that the strengthening of the euro could erode competitiveness of firms.
The German economy grew 0.7% sequentially in the third quarter, after a 0.4% growth in the previous quarter. The economy existed recession in the second quarter after contracting for four consecutive quarters.
Meanwhile, Germany's Federal Statistical Office announced that the producer price index or PPI dropped 7.6% year-on-year in October, same as in the previous month. Economists expected a decrease of 7.5%. A year ago, the PPI had grown 7.3%.
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May 15, 2026 15:25 ET Apart from the confirmation of Kevin Warsh as the next Fed chair, the main news on the economics front this week included key price data from the U.S. and the first quarter economic growth figures from major economies. Both consumer prices and producer costs have started to reflect the effect of supply shocks due to the Middle East conflict. In Europe, GDP data was in focus, while inflation data from China dominated the news flow in Asia.