Canadian dollar gains as oil climbs to near six-month high

The Canadian dollar strengthened against its U.S. counterpart on Monday as oil prices jumped to fresh multi-month highs, while investors awaited an interest rate decision this week from the Bank of Canada. The price of oil, one of Canada’s major exports, rose to its highest since October on growing concern about tight global supplies after the United States announced a further clampdown on Iranian oil exports. U.S. crude oil futures settled 2.7% higher at $65.70 a barrel. “We all know how correlated the Canadian dollar is with crude oil,” said Erik Bregar, head of FX strategy at the Exchange Bank of Canada. “We are seeing the Canadian dollar dribble higher but I would say the real party is on Wednesday.” The Bank of Canada is expected to hold its benchmark interest rate steady at 1.75% on Wednesday and for the rest of this year, with calls for the next hike in early 2020 resting on a knife’s edge, a Reuters poll showed.