The Canadian dollar lost ground against its major counterparts on Tuesday morning in New York despite a strong rally in oil prices. Traders reacted negatively to the Statistics Canada report showing the nation's trade surplus widened to C$1.1 billion in March.
Crude oil touched above $60 for the first time this year today on the back of weak dollar and improved optimism for global economic recovery. Prices were also boosted by encouraging demand data from China.
Light sweet crude oil for June delivery jumped to $59.20, up 70 cents on the session. Earlier, oil rallied as high as $60.08, a new six-month intraday high.
Data released in China showed the world's second-biggest energy user increased its crude imports by 14% to 16.17 million metric tons in the month of April.
The Statistics Canada report showed that imports decreased more than twice as fast as exports, leading to the widening of Canada's trade surplus from C$262 million in February to C$1.1 billion in March.
Imports fell 4.4% to $31.4 billion, while exports were down 1.8% to $32.5 billion. Overall exports have fallen by $11.8 billion since reaching their highest level in July 2008, primarily as a result of lower exports of energy products in the latter part of 2008.
The Canadian dollar slipped to 1.1678 against the US dollar by 10:15 am ET Tuesday and thus tested the Asian session's 4-day low of 1.168. The greenback-loonie pair that closed yesterday's deals at 1.167 is currently worth near 1.165.
Trade deficit in the U.S. widened to $27.6 billion in March from a revised $26.1 billion in February, the Commerce Department report showed today. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to $29.0 billion compared to the $26.0 billion originally reported for the previous month.
The Canadian dollar declined to 82.72 against the Japanese yen by 10:15 am ET, its lowest level in almost 11-days. This may be compared to yesterday's close of 83.59. On the downside, support is seen at the 81.5 level for the loonie. Currently, the loonie-yen pair is trading near 83.0.
Japan's leading index increased to 76.6 in March from 74.5 in February, a report from the Economic and Social Research Institute showed. Economists expected the indicator to come in at 77. The leading index showed a rise in March, after being on a declining trend since October last year.
Meanwhile, the coincident indicator declined to 84.9 in March from 85.2 in the preceding month. Economists were expecting the reading to be 85.8.
The Canadian dollar slumped to a 12-day low of 1.5917 against the euro around 10:15 am ET Thursday and the pair is presently trading near 1.59. If the loonie ticks down further, support is seen at the 1.599 level. The euro-loonie pair was worth 1.585 at Monday's close.
In economic news from the euro area, Germany's Federal Statistical Office confirmed annual inflation at 0.7% for April, faster than the 0.5% recorded in March. Month-on-month, the consumer price index, or CPI, remained unchanged in April, in line with the preliminary estimate released on April 28, after falling 0.1% in March.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.