A Canadian dollar coin, commonly known as the "Loonie", is pictured in this illustration picture taken in Toronto in this January 23, 2015, file photo. The Canadian dollar pared earlier session losses against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, strengthening after data showed January growth was better than feared. REUTERS/Mark Blinch/FilesMARK BLINCH/Reuters
The Canadian dollar closed at 75.45 cents (U.S.), down 0.15 cents from Thursday.
Oil continues to be the biggest drag on the loonie. The commodity was under pressure after a new report out on Friday by Goldman Sachs said oil could plunge to as low as $20 (U.S.) a barrel. They cited a worldwide glut of production and a slowdown in demand from China as the main reasons. "The oil market is even more oversupplied than we had expected and we now forecast this surplus to persist in 2016," Goldman analysts including Damien Courvalin wrote in the report. In reaction, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude fell again on Friday, closing at $44.63 (U.S.), down $1.29 from Thursday.
The Canadian dollar was also weaker against the euro this week. On Friday the euro was $1.50 Canadian, compared to $1.48 at the beginning of the week.
The focus is now on the U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate decision next week. Economists, currency watchers and money-market traders are still unsure whether the Fed will raise interest rates on Wednesday. If it did, it would be the first time they have done so since June, 2006. It's being called one of the mostly closely watched and important economics events in several years.
Next week is also busy for Canadian economic news. On Tuesday the Canada Real Estate Board releases resale homes data for August. As well, Statistics Canada releases manufacturing sales data for July on Wednesday and the Consumer Price Index on Friday. All of these reports could have an impact on the Canadian dollar depending how in line they are with economists' expectations.
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