Canadian Dollar Falls Amid Weak Oil Prices After API Data

The Canadian dollar declined against its most major counterparts in the European session on Thursday, as oil prices dropped after an industry report showed a sharp build in inventories last week.

Crude for July delivery fell $0.30 to $32.51 a barrel.

Data from the American Petroleum Institute showed that U.S. crude inventories rose by 8.731 million barrels for the week ended May 22.

Analysts had forecast a draw of 2.50 million barrels of crude inventories.

Gasoline stocks grew by 1.1 million barrels, while distillate inventories were up by 6.907 million barrels for the week.

The Energy Information Administration will release its weekly inventory data later in the day.

U.S.-China tensions prevailed as the Trump administration stripped Hong Kong's special status under U.S. law following China's security legislation.

The U.S. is considering a range of sanctions against China for its crackdown on Hong Kong.

The loonie dropped to 0.9117 against the aussie and 1.3789 against the greenback, after rising to 0.9079 and 1.3734, respectively in early deals. The next possible support for the loonie is seen around 0.94 against the aussie and 1.40 against the greenback.

Reversing from a high of 78.51 hit at 8:45 pm ET, the loonie weakened to 78.17 against the yen. The loonie is seen finding support around the 74.00 region.

The loonie pulled back to 1.5169 against the euro, from a high of 1.5126 set at 5:00 pm ET. The loonie is poised to challenge support around the 1.54 mark.

Survey data from the European Commission showed that Eurozone economic confidence improved in May from a record low.

The economic sentiment index rose to 67.5 in May from 64.9 in the previous month. However, the reading was below economists' forecast of 70.3.

Looking ahead, at 8:00 am ET, German preliminary consumer inflation for May is scheduled for release.

In the New York session, U.S. GDP data for the first quarter, weekly jobless claims for the week ended May 23, pending home sales and durable goods orders for April will be out.