The Canadian dollar CADUSD was little changed against its U.S. counterpart on Wednesday, with the currency giving back its earlier gains as oil prices fell and the U.S. Federal Reserve added to its hawkish stance.
The Fed held interest rates steady but projected another rate increase by the end of the year and monetary policy kept significantly tighter through 2024 than previously expected.
“The U.S. dollar is climbing against its major rivals as Treasury yields push higher across the front-end of the curve, and risk-sensitive assets – from equities to the Canadian dollar – are weakening,” Karl Schamotta, chief market strategist at Corpay, said in a note.
The Canadian dollar was trading nearly unchanged at 1.3450 to the greenback, or 74.35 U.S. cents, after trading in a range of 1.3396 to 1.3464.
On Tuesday, the currency touched its strongest intraday level in nearly six weeks at 1.3378 after stronger-than-expected domestic inflation data bolstered prospects of additional interest rate hikes by the Bank of Canada.
The Canadian central bank wanted to send the message that interest rates would not be coming down soon when it left them at a 22-year high after a policy meeting on Sept 6, minutes showed.
Money markets see a roughly 50% chance that the BoC will resume tightening in October, up from 23% before the inflation data.
The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, settled 1% lower at $90.28 a barrel, giving back some recent gains.
Canadian government bond yields were mixed across a more deeply inverted curve. The 2-year touched its highest since July 2001 at 4.976% before dipping to 4.937%,up 2 basis points on the day.