US taper talk undermines commodity backed currencies

Elsewhere this week, the Japanese yen opened on a soft footing, losing ground against the majority of its most-traded peer amid an appetite for risk in the market. As such, traders looked to sell off the traditionally safe-haven yen in the search of higher-yielding investments. As the week progressed, however, the market sentiment swung in favour of the yen, and hence the Japanese currency recovered from the losses it had previously logged. After a steady few days, the Canadian dollar dropped off significantly yesterday following strong retail figures out of the US – fuelling speculation that US Federal Reserve could taper its quantitative easing program as early as next week. Any tapering of US stimulus is bad news for the Canadian economy, with the US being the primary export destination. For the same reason, we saw the Australian dollar and Indian rupee – both commodity backed currencies alongside the Canadian dollar – lose ground yesterday afternoon.  A quiet day on the data front today means that markets will be susceptible to external factors. Call in for a live rate.