Crude oil down again
The week is off to a rough start for crude oil. After dropping more than 4% on Friday, it wrapped up the day yesterday down close to 3%. It appears that the many statements from Saudi Arabia and related speculation continue to weigh on prices. On Friday, a Saudi official clearly warned other OPEC members that the kingdom would only freeze output if other major producers followed suit. This was a direct shot at Iran, which has been consistently ramping up production since international sanctions on it were lifted. In short, some observers believe that optimism related to a possible OPEC production freeze after the meeting on April 17 is fading.
Given this news and the lack of major economic indicators released, our loonie found itself under pressure. Much like the CAD, the TSX lost ground after gaining close to 2% last week. Today, we’ll be keeping an eye on Trade Balance data on both sides of the 49th parallel.
