Canadian Dollar Falls As Oil Price Slide On OPEC Uncertainty

The Canadian dollar declined against its most major counterparts in early European trading on Tuesday, as oil prices declined amid uncertainty over possibility of an agreement in reducing oil production at the OPEC meeting on Wednesday.

Crude for January delivery declined $0.47 to $46.61 per barrel.

A preliminary meeting on Monday ended without a concrete deal on quota of production cuts for member nations amid internal discord among the OPEC members.

Non-OPEC member Russia said it would not participate in the Vienna talks tomorrow, as it want the OPEC members to reach a deal on proposed production cuts. While Iraq and other nations such as Libya and Nigeria sought exemptions from output cuts, Saudi Arabia said that oil markets would stabilise despite any reductions.

European stocks are trading mixed, as traders became cautious ahead of Wednesday's OPEC meeting and as Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi faces a key referendum on Sunday that could lead to more political instability on the continent.

The loonie showed mixed performance in the Asian session. While the loonie held steady against the euro and the aussie, it declined against the greenback. Against the yen, it rose.

The loonie edged down to 1.4264 against euro, after having advanced to 1.4213 at 8:00 pm ET. Continuation of the loonie's downtrend may see it challenging support around the 1.44 mark.

Survey data from the European Commission showed that Eurozone economic confidence improved to a 11-month high in November.

The economic sentiment index came in at 106.5, up from 106.4 in October but below the expected score of 106.8. This was the highest since December 2015 when the reading was 106.6.

The loonie weakened to 1.0062 against the aussie and 1.3458 against the greenback, from its early highs of 1.0017 and 1.3400, respectively. The next possible support levels for the loonie may be found around 1.36 against the greenback and 1.03 against the aussie.

On the flip side, the loonie climbed to 83.79 against the Japanese yen, from a low of 83.26 hit at 6:45 pm ET. If the loonie extends rise, 85.00 is likely seen as its next resistance level.

Data from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications showed that Japan's jobless rate stood at a seasonally adjusted 3.0 percent in October, in line with forecasts and unchanged from the previous month.

The job-to-applicant ratio came in at 1.40, beating forecasts for 1.39 and up from 1.38 in the previous month.

Looking ahead, preliminary German CPI data for November, Canada current account data for the third quarter, U.S. second estimate GDP data for the third quarter, U.S. S&P Case-Shiller home price index for September, and U.S. consumer confidence index for November are set to be published in the New York session.

At 9:15 am ET, Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William Dudley is expected to speak about the opportunities for economic growth, in Puerto Rico.

At 12:40 pm ET, Federal Reserve Governor Jerome Powell is expected to speak about the economic outlook at the Economic Club of Indiana Luncheon, in Indianapolis.