Canadian dollar stalls after Monday’s big advance

By Saqib Iqbal Ahmed

(Reuters) – The Canadian dollar fell against its U.S. counterpart on Tuesday, retreating from the more than 2-year high hit in the previous session after a promising coronavirus vaccine development boosted demand for riskier currencies.

The Canadian dollar was trading 0.2% lower at 1.3024 to the greenback, or 76.76 U.S. cents, pulling back from its strongest intraday level in more than two years on Monday at 1.2928.

The U.S. dollar edged up on Tuesday and the yen stayed low, as investors remained optimistic about progress towards a COVID-19 vaccine, although the moves were more tempered than in the previous session.

“The Canadian dollar rallied to its highest level against the U.S. dollar in a little over two years yesterday before the pro-risk rally stalled,” Shaun Osborne, chief currency strategist at Scotiabank, said in a note.

“But the fact that the Canadian dollar is down, if only modestly, on the session so far, suggests markets are recalibrating after yesterday’s failed CAD rally,” Osborne said.

The loonie found some support from continued strength in the price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports.

Oil prices rose on Tuesday as hopes that a COVID-19 vaccine could be on the horizon outweighed the expected negative impact on fuel demand of new lockdowns to curb the virus.

Canadian government bond yields were higher across the curve, with the 10-year up 4.8 basis points at 0.795%.

(Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed; Editing by Nick Zieminski)