The Canadian dollar is strengthening as crude oil prices rise following a production cut announcement by OPEC+.
The Canadian currency has reached a six-week high against the U.S. dollar as oil prices surged more than 6% and broke above $80 U.S. a barrel after OPEC+ announced plans to cut its oil production by one million barrels per day starting in May of this year.
The Canadian dollar rose 0.8% to 1.3412 per U.S. dollar, or 74.56 U.S. cents, its biggest one-day gain since February 10 of this year, and its highest level since February 16.
Canada is a major oil exporter and the dollar rose as the price of Brent crude oil, the international standard, increased more than 6% to trade at $85.76 U.S. per barrel.
Canada’s currency has also benefitted recently from growing expectations that the central bank is done raising interest rates.
Canadian government bond yields have been easing in recent trading sessions, mirroring moves seen in U.S. Treasuries. Canada’s 10-year bond traded down 1.5 basis points to 2.884%.
