Canadian Dollar Slides On Oil Weakness After Trump's Comments

The Canadian dollar was defensive against its major counterparts in the European session on Monday, following a sell-off in crude oil after U.S. President Donald Trump indicated that he had told producer club OPEC to lower oil prices and called Saudi Arabia to lessen the impact of lower Iranian oil exports by increasing flows elsewhere.

Crude for June delivery fell $0.22 to $63.08 per barrel.

Trump tweeted on Friday that he spoke with the OPEC producers and that he had demanded to increase output to reduce oil prices.

"Spoke to Saudi Arabia and others about increasing oil flow. All are in agreement," Trump tweeted.

Trump's statement caused a sell-off in oil, wiping out the sharp price rally in oil seen since the start of the year.

Market participants expect Saudi Arabia to increase output as soon as May to offset the lost Iranian crude oil.

The loonie showed mixed trading against its major counterparts in the Asian session. While it rose against the yen and the greenback, it fell against the euro and the aussie.

The loonie slipped to 1.3480 against the greenback, from a 5-day high of 1.3450 touched at 1:30 am ET. If the loonie drops further, 1.36 is possibly seen as its next support level.

The loonie declined to 1.5040 against the euro, after rising as high as 1.4993 at 5:15 pm ET. Next key support for the loonie is likely seen around the 1.52 level.

Survey data from the European Commission showed that Eurozone economic sentiment weakened for a tenth straight month in April and at a faster-than-expected pace, amid sharp deterioration in the morale in industry.

The economic sentiment index decreased to 104 from 105.6 in March. Economists had expected a score of 105. The Canadian currency touched a 5-day low of 0.9503 against the aussie, compared to last week's closing value of 0.9465. The loonie is seen finding support around the 0.965 area.

The loonie gave up some of its early gains against the yen with the pair trading at 82.95. This follows a high of 83.04 touched at 3:00 am ET. On the downside, 80.5 is possibly seen as the next support level for the loonie.