Canadian Dollar Lower Before U.S. Inflation Data

(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar declined against its major counterparts on Thursday, as oil prices fell ahead of U.S. inflation data that is expected to support the likelihood of a 75-basis point rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month.

The minutes from the Fed's September meeting showed that members expect interest rates to remain high till prices come down and choose to give priority to the commitment to reign in stubbornly increasing inflation.

The minutes showed that many Fed officials "emphasized the cost of taking too little action to bring down inflation likely outweighed the cost of taking too much action."

Overnight data showed that U.S. producer prices climbed more than expected in September.

On a yearly basis, producer prices rose 8.5 percent in September versus expectations for an increase of 8.4 percent.

The Labor Department releases the consumer price index report for September at 8:30 am ET. Economists expect annual inflation to ease to 8.1 percent from 8.3 percent, but the core reading is seen accelerating to 6.5 percent from 6.3 percent in the previous month.

The loonie was down against the euro, at 1.3420. The loonie is likely to challenge support near the 1.36 mark.

The loonie was trading at a 2-day low of 1.3837 against the greenback. Should the loonie falls further, it is likely to test support around the 1.41 region.

The loonie fell to a 2-day low of 0.8684 against the aussie around 9:50 pm ET and held steady thereafter. At yesterday's trading close, the pair was quoted at 0.8669.

The loonie edged down to 106.10 against the yen, from a high of 106.37 set at 8:50 pm ET. The loonie is seen finding support around the 96.00 mark.

Looking ahead, U.S. weekly jobless claims for the week ended October 8 and consumer inflation data for September will be published in the New York session.