American dollar closes the week on a positive note

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

US Dollar             1.3300-1.3400

Euro                     1.3800-1.3900

Sterling                1.5850-1.5950

WTI Oil (opening level) $80.15

The US Dollar index is marginally weaker this morning but it is still heading for a weekly gain. The dollar got a boost this week as speeches from several Federal Reserve officials that indicated the thinking inside the Fed that current interest rate hikes have had limited effect on the inflation rate and that they will continue with aggressive interest rate hikes. One official said at a minimum he would want to see the rate at 5.00% to %5.25% before taking the handle of aggressive rate hikes. If this is the case the US Dollar should remain supported in the near term.

The Canadian Dollar was borne a lot of the brunt of the stronger Greenback this week as at one point yesterday USD.CAD traded near the 1.3400 (0.7463) level before pulling back a bit lower this morning. The Loonie is also weaker against most other currencies so once again we do not see the Loonie extend any gains after a short-run higher.

We do get some secondary Canadian inflation data this morning in the form of Producer Prices, I don't think that it will have much affect on the Loonie, we may see USD.CAD take another run at the 1.3400 level before the day is out.