Investing.com - The U.S. dollar eased off two-month lows against its Canadian counterpart on Wednesday, as sentiment on the greenback slightly improved although gains were expected to remain capped as rising oil prices lent support to the commodity-related Canadian currency.
USD/CAD was up 0.12% at 1.2528 by 09:30 a.m. ET (13:30 GMT), just off a two-month low of 1.2500 hit earlier in the day.
Market watchers were looking ahead to the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s December meeting, where it raised interest rates, which were due to be released later on Wednesday. Two policymakers voted against the rate hike amid doubts inflation would accelerate as hoped.
The U.S. dollar weakened in 2017 as the global economy gained momentum fueling expectations for tighter monetary policy in other countries, which would lessen the divergence between the Federal Reserve and other central banks.
Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar benefitted from an increase in oil prices near multi-year highs, as supply cut efforts by global oil producers continued to boost demand for the commodity.
The loonie was higher against the euro, with EUR/CAD shedding 0.17% to 1.5064.