Canadian Dollar picks up some strength against the major currencies

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

US Dollar         1.2575-1.2675

Euro                 1.5275-1.5375

Sterling            1.7600-1.7700

The US Dollar Index is weaker this morning as market react to yesterday's weaker than expected US jobless claims numbers dampening the hopes of investors for a quick recovery in the US economy and further emphasizing the need for the $1.9 Trillion stimulus that is working its way through congress to be rolled out. In Texas the power grid is slowly coming back online and oil production is ramping up again which is helping to bring the oil price back down below $60 a barrel.

The Canadian Dollar has been able to pick up some overnight strength against the Greenback as USD.CAD continues to see-saw back and forth, this morning the currency pair opens back near the 1.2600 (0.7937) level which is about 100 points better than yesterday's highest level. The Loonie also picked up some strength against the Euro and Pound so overall a good session for the Loonie.

To finish the week, we get the Canadian Retail Sales report for December, the consensus number is for a 2.5% decline in sales but as this is old data, I doubt it will have much effect on the Loonie, look for the Loonie to hold onto its strength for the rest of the day and we will see what next week brings.