Canadian Dollar Appreciates On Strong Inflation Data

The Canadian dollar spiked up against its most major counterparts in the European session on Wednesday, following a data showing an acceleration in the nation's annual inflation for the month of December.

Data from Statistics Canada showed that the consumer price index rose 4.8 percent on a year-over-year basis in December, up from a 4.7 percent gain in November.

Core consumer prices increased by 4.0 percent on year, after climbing by 3.6 percent in November.

The CPI grew 0.3 on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis in December, the same rate as seen in the previous month.

Core CPI, excluding food and energy, grew 0.4 percent in December, following a 0.1 percent rise last month.

The loonie edged higher to 91.94 against the yen, from a low of 91.28 seen at 2 am ET. If the loonie continues its rise, 94.00 is possibly seen as its next resistance level.

The loonie jumped to nearly a 5-year high of 1.4129 against the euro and more than a 2-month high of 1.2450 against the greenback, off its early lows of 1.4197 and 1.2525, respectively. The loonie is seen finding resistance around 1.40 against the euro and 1.22 against the greenback.

In contrast, the loonie weakened to a 2-day low of 0.9044 against the aussie, following a 1-1/2-month high of 0.8976 seen in the Asian session. Next key support for the loonie is possibly seen around the 0.92 level.