CAD starts Friday with a weaker bias

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

US Dollar             1.2650-1.2750

Euro                     1.4850-1.4950

Sterling                1.7350-1.7450

The US Dollar Index is steady ahead of the much-anticipated speech from Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell. Markets will be looking for some guidance as to when the Federal Reserve will begin to taper their stimulus program and it is expected it will be in the fourth quarter of this year. The market will hear from Powell around 10:00am this morning so we should start to see some volatility shortly after that.

The Canadian Dollar is trading weaker ahead of the speech as USD.CAD moved back above the 1.2700 (0.7874) level last night before opening the day at 1.2680 (0.7886). Ahead of the speech we get some US secondary data but for the most part the Loonie will trade back and forth until the Greenback gets a boost to its overall direction.