USD/CAD is near the April low of 1.0858.
USDCAD daily
One of the reasons for Canadian dollar outperformance (albeit a small one) is an interview with China’s new ambassador to Canada in the Globe & Mail.
Canada-China relations were rough for a few years but they’re due for a reset as Canada looks East for oil exports after the Keystone XL fiasco.
More than his words, appointing a senior diplomat as Canadian ambassador indicates investment in Canada is a priority for the Chinese:
Mr. Luo, at 6-foot-2, is a basketball player whose foreign-service career has taken him to India, the United States, Singapore and Pakistan, where he was ambassador from 2007 to 2010. He has been a director-general for the past three years at the foreign ministry, where he was at the front lines of contentious discussions with Japan over disputed maritime territory.
All his comments suggesting China-Canada relations are beginning to thaw and he indicated that he’s “quite optimistic” senior Chinese leaders will visit Canada.
Mr. Luo will land in Canada with a set of gift-wrapped trade gifts. China “will buy more” Bombardier jets. It “will encourage Chinese companies” to do more business with Canada, and is prepared to discuss “a maritime energy corridor” linking the two nations – assuming pipelines can get built to send oil west.
You can’t help but read the story and sense that Chinese money wants a home in resource-rich Canada. The next step is for Canada to step up.
