USD index receives a boost from investors

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

US Dollar         1.2550-1.2650

Euro                 1.4800-1.4900

Sterling            1.7400-1.7500

The US Dollar Index is set to reach a 4-month high in what was a relatively quiet overnight trading session. The Greenback is still receiving a boost from investors worrying about economies other than the US, in particular the Euro is suffering as both Germany and France are heading into a tough looking third waves of the virus. In the meantime, the Pound is quite strong as that country starts to move out of lockdown as the British vaccination program keeps moving forward.

In Egypt, the container ship blocking the Suez Canal has been partially refloated and now inspectors are checking to see if any damage has been done and then work on a plan to get the backlog of some 450 ships that are waiting to transit the canal moving again. The price of oil dropped on the news of the ship moving but it will still be a few days before any goods are again flowing.

The Canadian Dollar is range trading as it starts the new week near the 1.2600 (0.7937) level, once again there is not really any positive domestic news coming out of Canada at the moment and once again the Loonie will continue to move around at the behest of the US Dollar. The Loonie also lost some ground to the other global currencies and especially lost some significant ground to the British Pound as GBP.CAD jumped over 75 points last night on the strength of Sterling.

A quite day on the calendar to start the last week of March, as we head into April we will get the US employment report on Friday where the market will be watching to see if the US economic recovery is unfolding as expected. Stocks are also pointing lower on the opening this morning as it was revealed that Goldman Sachs sold some $20 Billion worth of stocks for a single hedge fund client who has run into financial trouble on Friday. Market investors will be watching to see if this sell-off continues today and will also look to see what effect such a large default has on the banking system.