(The Canadian Press) TORONTO – The Canadian dollar was higher Wednesday ahead of comments later in the day by the two top officials of the Bank of Canada.
The loonie was up 0.12 of a cent to 95.62 cents US as traders also looked to the latest U.S. retail sales and housing data later in the morning and the release of the minutes of the latest Federal Reserve meeting in the afternoon.
Bank of Canada governor Stephen Poloz and senior deputy governor Tiff Macklem appear before the Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce later in the day. Markets will look to their take on the economy a day after the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development cut its 2014 forecast for global growth to 3.6% from 4.0%.
The opening text will be released at 4:15 p.m. EST and a question-and-answer session will follow.
In the U.S., the consensus called for October retail sales to have risen by 0.1% following a similar sized dip in September.
Traders will also consider existing U.S. home sales data for October later in the morning. Economists think sales will come in at an annualized rate of 5.16 million, down from 5.29 million because of higher mortgage rates and the U.S. government's fiscal impasse.
The Fed releases its minutes from its latest meeting late last month at mid-afternoon.
It will be parsed for new insights into the central bank's thinking on the economy and the longevity of its low interest rate policies.
The central bank's monthly purchase of US$85 billion of bonds have kept long term rates low and pushed investors into riskier but potentially higher yielding assets such as stocks. The quantitative easing has underpinned substantial gains on many markets this year but left investors on edge for signs the central bank will start reducing its asset purchases.
Janet Yellen, who is slated to become the next Fed chairman, has already expressed strong support for low interest-rate and bond buying policies aimed at stimulating U.S. growth.
December crude gained 22 cents to US$93.56 amid expectations U.S. crude stockpiles fell last week for the first time in nearly two months in a possible sign of improving demand.
Stockpile figures for last week are expected to show declines of 500,000 barrels in crude oil stocks and 150,000 barrels in gasoline stocks.