Forex: USD/CAD hovering expectantly around 1.0420

_iNVEZZ.com Thursday July 18th:_ The greenback started on something of an uptick against the loonie in early Asian trading today, when the quote rose to 1.0437, its current intraday high. In European trading the pair has been lower, currently trading around 1.0420.

The market is once again focused on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke who today will head north in the Capitol, to report to the Senate Banking Committee, an event scheduled for 15:00 BST. His monetary policy reports to the US Congress this week (yesterday he was in a Lower House committee) are likely to be his last, with his scheduled January 2014 retirement from the post unlikely to alter.

Yesterday Bernanke told the House Financial Services Committee that the Fed stimulus measures are not set in concrete, and could change to meet developments. He also played down to a degree the importance of the unemployment rate as a factor in any tapering decision.
Hiroichi Nishi, general manager of equities at SMBC Nikko Securities, observes: “Bernanke’s words were nothing new, but did have a calming effect for those still harbouring jitters about a near-term end of the US easing policy.”

North of the border, foreign investment in Canadian securities was reported yesterday to have eased to $6.7 billion in May, with all types of securities being sold down but especially bonds. Canadian-resident investors repatriated $1.6 billion in funds from international financial markets in May, chiefly by offloading US securities.
The Bank of Canada said yesterday that it is maintaining its target for the overnight rate at one percent.