Oil prices drop below $100 for the first time since March 1st

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

US Dollar             1.2725-1.2825

Euro                     1.3950-1.4050

Sterling                1.6600-1.6700

USD.RUB (opening level) 110.00-(Ruble remains weak and volatile)

WTI (opening level) $94.56 (almost a $10 drop in the oil price)

The US Dollar index is weaker this morning as talks seem to be progressing towards a peaceful solution in Ukraine. The EU announced that they were sending three senior officials to Kiev to discuss a possible solution to the war and talks between Russia and Ukraine are ongoing. In the meantime the bombing continues and lives are being lost.

There were also high level meetings with China and the US yesterday which is interesting to see happen. Nothing was announced in the meetings but certainly China must tread carefully here, there stock market is in the middle of an historic selloff which will upset the population (the Hong Kong Hang Seng index fell 6.6% last night, a record drop), the Government continues to lockdown more cities against the virus and they government is now fearful of sanctions from Washington.

The commodity markets have reacted to the news of hope in Ukraine positively as they have all lost a lot of ground, led lower by the drop in the oil price to $94.50 a barrel this morning. However this drop led to another tumble in the stock markets as all Asian and European stock markets were considerably lower.

The Canadian Dollar has suffered at the hands of the commodity market as USD.CAD jumped significantly higher and lost ground to all major currencies. USD.CAD opens the day back above the 1.2800 (0.7813) and the currency pair looks set to test higher.

There is some Canadian trade data on the calendar today but for the most part the markets will await word on peace talks and the Fed interest rate announcement tomorrow. North American stocks are pointing a little higher on the opening so lets see if they can have a positive day.