Canadian Dollar picks up some gains against the other currencies

Today's expected range for the Canadian Dollar against the major currencies:

US Dollar         1.2550-1.2650

Euro                 1.4900-1.5000

Sterling            1.7300-1.7400

The US Dollar Index is marginally weaker this morning in another quiet overnight session but that was after it showed signs of strength yesterday afternoon when the minutes of the Federal Reserve meeting were released. The Committee that decides the future of US interest rates were unanimous in their view that interest rates should remain low and monetary stimulus remain in place as long as necessary to support the US recovery. Markets looked at this as there will not be any interest rate hikes in the US anytime soon and as a result traders pushed the yield on the 10-year Treasury note down to 1.63% which is the lowest level since it hit since it traded at 1.77% late last month.

The Canadian Dollar tracked the US dollar very closely again yesterday and into the overnight session, yesterday saw USD.CAD jump above the 1.2600 (0.7936) level as the US Dollar traded stronger and then as US interest rates fell the exchange rate dropped to trade at 1.2580 (0.7949) where it opens the morning session. The Loonie was able to pick up some gains against the other currencies so it starts the day with a stronger bias.

Today's market will be looking at the US weekly jobless claims numbers to get a continuing picture of the changing job situation in the States, a strong number should push the stock markets higher and give the US Dollar a boost. Tomorrow we get a look at the Canadian Jobs report for March and we will see how the economy fared.