USD/CAD: Rally Continues As Loonie Drops To 3-Year Lows

 | Dec 04, 2013 12:53AM ET

The Canadian dollar continues to lose ground in Tuesday trading, as USD/CAD trades in the mid-1.06 range. The Canadian currency continues to struggle and has now lost over 200 points in the past two weeks against its US cousin. It's a very light schedule on Tuesday, with just two minor US releases on the calendar. There are no Canadian releases on Tuesday.

Nothing seems to be going right for the beleaguered Canadian dollar. On Friday, Canadian GDP remained unchanged, posting a second straight gain of 0.3%. This beat the estimate of 0.1%, but the positive reading wasn't enough to prevent the loonie from losing more ground, as the USD/CAD rally continued. Even with the strong GDP release, market sentiment has not been strong around the Canadian dollar, which has fallen to three-year lows against the US currency. The Bank of Canada will set the benchmark interest rate on Wednesday, and the markets are anticipating that Bank will maintain the current level of 1.00%.

US releases got off to a fast start this week as ISM Manufacturing PMI jumped to 57.3 points, up from 56.4 the month before. This beat the estimate of 55.2 and was the index's best showing since April 2011. The markets will be keeping close tabs on this week's US employment releases, as the Fed is likely to step in and taper QE if employment numbers continue to improve. Unemployment Claims have looked sharp for the past two releases, and if the Non-Farm Payrolls and Unemployment Rate look solid, this week, the US dollar could gain more ground.