Investing.com - The U.S. dollar fell to a session low against its Canadian counterpart on Monday, as rising oil prices supported the loonie, which shrugged off Friday's mass euro zone sovereign downgrade by ratings agency Standard & Poor’s.
USD/CAD hit 1.0183 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0199, shedding 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0139, the low of January 12 and resistance at 1.0251, the session high.
S&P cut France’s triple-A rating by one notch on Friday and said it would decide shortly whether to downgrade the triple-A rating on the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
S&P also downgraded eight other euro zone sovereigns, including Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal.
Earlier in the day, ratings agency Moody’s said it was maintaining France’s triple-A rating and stable outlook on its debt for now, but added that it would update markets in the first quarter of 2012.
France sold EUR8.5 billion of short-term government debt earlier, just shy of the targeted amount of EUR8.7 billion, in an auction which met with lackluster investor demand and slightly higher yields.
The Canadian dollar was supported by higher crude oil prices, with crude oil for delivery in March jumping 0.97% to trade at USD99.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Raw materials, including oil account for about half of Canada’s export revenue.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD falling 0.45% to hit 1.2915.
Trade volumes were expected to remain light on Monday, as markets in the U.S. remained closed for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.
USD/CAD hit 1.0183 during European afternoon trade, the session low; the pair subsequently consolidated at 1.0199, shedding 0.31%.
The pair was likely to find support at 1.0139, the low of January 12 and resistance at 1.0251, the session high.
S&P cut France’s triple-A rating by one notch on Friday and said it would decide shortly whether to downgrade the triple-A rating on the euro zone's bailout fund, the European Financial Stability Facility.
S&P also downgraded eight other euro zone sovereigns, including Italy, Spain, Cyprus and Portugal.
Earlier in the day, ratings agency Moody’s said it was maintaining France’s triple-A rating and stable outlook on its debt for now, but added that it would update markets in the first quarter of 2012.
France sold EUR8.5 billion of short-term government debt earlier, just shy of the targeted amount of EUR8.7 billion, in an auction which met with lackluster investor demand and slightly higher yields.
The Canadian dollar was supported by higher crude oil prices, with crude oil for delivery in March jumping 0.97% to trade at USD99.83 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Raw materials, including oil account for about half of Canada’s export revenue.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD falling 0.45% to hit 1.2915.
Trade volumes were expected to remain light on Monday, as markets in the U.S. remained closed for the Martin Luther King Day holiday.