The Canadian dollar early Wednesday was right where it left off late Tuesday, at the dawn of what could be a volatile session.
The market is pointing its full attention to the Federal Reserve, with the FOMC slated to make a policy announcement around 12:30 p.m. EDT and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hosting the inaugural post-policy news conference at 2:15 p.m. EDT.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates low this week, but traders will be watching closely for any change in tone.
Market participants say Bernanke is likely to uphold the current policy of keeping interest rates low and allowing the Fed's asset-purchasing program to run out in June.
The U.S. dollar is at C$0.9524, from C$0.9525 late Tuesday, according to CQG. It touched a low of C$0.9486 overnight.
The U.S. dollar is broadly under pressure, but many of the other drivers that typically support the Canadian dollar have turned negative, said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto.
The 2-year interest rate spread has widened, oil prices--while elevated-- have not reached new highs, currency volatility has been trending slowly higher, and uncertainty is rising over Canada's May 2 federal election, with Canada's third national party gaining popularity.
"Accordingly," Sutton said, "without the current broad-based selling pressure on the USD, it is likely that [the U.S. dollar] would have pushed back up above C$0.96."
Stock futures are pointing to a higher North American open on Wednesday, and oil futures are slightly higher.
The market is pointing its full attention to the Federal Reserve, with the FOMC slated to make a policy announcement around 12:30 p.m. EDT and Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke hosting the inaugural post-policy news conference at 2:15 p.m. EDT.
The Fed is widely expected to keep interest rates low this week, but traders will be watching closely for any change in tone.
Market participants say Bernanke is likely to uphold the current policy of keeping interest rates low and allowing the Fed's asset-purchasing program to run out in June.
The U.S. dollar is at C$0.9524, from C$0.9525 late Tuesday, according to CQG. It touched a low of C$0.9486 overnight.
The U.S. dollar is broadly under pressure, but many of the other drivers that typically support the Canadian dollar have turned negative, said Camilla Sutton, chief currency strategist at Scotia Capital in Toronto.
The 2-year interest rate spread has widened, oil prices--while elevated-- have not reached new highs, currency volatility has been trending slowly higher, and uncertainty is rising over Canada's May 2 federal election, with Canada's third national party gaining popularity.
Stock futures are pointing to a higher North American open on Wednesday, and oil futures are slightly higher.
