Canadian Dollar Climbs On Rising Oil Prices After OPEC Decision

The Canadian dollar advanced against its major counterparts in the Asian session on Friday, as crude oil prices jumped after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies decided to keep output unchanged in April.

Crude for April delivery rose $0.96 to $64.79 per barrel.

During a virtual gathering on Thursday, the OPEC+ decided to maintain the current supply cuts for April amid fears that coronavirus restrictions could hurt demand.

Saudi Arabia will retain its 1 million barrel-a-day voluntary production cut in order to support crude prices.

Saudi Energy Minister Prince Abdulaziz bin Salman cautioned about raising production, but said that cuts will be withdrawn over the next few months depending upon the market conditions.

Non-OPEC countries such as Russia and Kazakstan were allowed to make modest increases.

The loonie strengthened to 85.62 against the yen, its highest level since December 2018. If the loonie extends rise, 88.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The loonie recovered to 1.2651 against the greenback, from a 3-day low of 1.2695 seen at 8:15 pm ET. The loonie is likely to find resistance around the 1.21 level.

The loonie approached 1.5126 against the euro, a level unseen since June 2020. On the upside, 1.50 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The loonie climbed to a 4-week high of 0.9756 against the aussie from Thursday's close of 0.9779. The next possible resistance for the loonie is seen around the 0.96 level.

Looking ahead, UK Halifax house price data is due in the European session.

U.S. jobs data and and Canada Ivey PMI for February, as well as U.S. and Canadian trade data and U.S. consumer credit, all for January, are due in the New York session.