Swiss Franc hits a 7-year high against the Euro

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

US Dollar             1.2650-1.2800

Euro                     1.4100-1.4200

Sterling                1.6950-1.7050

USD.RUB 102.50 (held steady overnight)

WTI $100.92 (Up $5 from yesterday's opening)

The US Dollar index is marginally higher again this morning as the world's financial markets continue to be rocked by the situation in Ukraine. Stocks are all lower this morning, currency market volatility has not been this high since 2020, the price of oil has sailed past the $100 dollar mark, the Ruble continues to come under pressure and awaits to see what the Russian Central Bank will do next and finally the Swiss Franc has hit a 7-year high against the Euro as investors flock to the Franc for safe keeping.

The Canadian Dollar continues to benefit from the higher prices for commodities and USD.CAD opens the day at the 1.2685 (0.7883) level and looks like there is room for it to appreciate further.

On the sanctions front, more companies are taking huge hits on delisting their Russian energy investments, Switzerland has come under significant internal pressure and for the first time has abandoned their neutrality status and placed sanctions on individual members of the Russian Government. In Australia, the Central bank there did not increase interest rates as expected citing the financial uncertainty at the current time, we will see what the US Federal Reserve and Bank of Canada do in the coming weeks.

We do have 4th Quarter GDP for Canada this morning but in reality there is only one situation that investors are watching so I am pretty sure this report will take a back seat to what is happening in Europe.