USD index weakens after a strong day on Friday

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

US Dollar         1.2325-1.2425

Euro                 1.4625-1.4725

Sterling            1.7025-1.7125

The US Dollar Index is marginally weaker this morning but that was after a strong day on Friday where the US reported jobs gains in June of over 850K which was much better than expected. Surprisingly the unemployment rate was also higher which most investors interpreted as being the Fed will not increase interest rates sooner than first thought and will leave their stimulus program in place until the employment picture improves some more. The market will know more of what the US Federal Reserve is thinking when they release the minutes from their last interest rate meeting later in the week.

The Canadian Dollar has had a bumpy ride since the Canada day holiday, on Friday with the stronger US Dollar USD.CAD reached a high of 1.2440 (0.8038) but as the Greenback weakened overnight the Loonie picked up some strength ahead of other currencies and USD.CAD opens the day at the 1.2350 (0.8097) level.

The oil market is in a bit of upheaval this morning as the UAE has blocked a deal on increasing output by OPEC this morning, they are looking for a longer deal that increases production out to 2022 but the other countries have balked at this so at the moment the oil price has spiked above $75.50 a barrel. This market will remain very volatile over the coming weeks so we will see how it affects the Loonie.

Today is a bank holiday in the US but we do get the Bank of Canada survey on the economy being released, it does not usually affect the Loonie in the short-term but we may get some volatility if the Bank has any surprises in their report.