Canadian Dollar Rises Amid Risk-On Mood

(RTTNews) - The Canadian dollar strengthened against other major currencies in the Asian session on Thursday, as Asian stock markets traded higher, as traders react positively to the Democrats' decisive victory in the midterm elections after they won control of both the House and Senate, with crude oil prices plummeting on hopes of a potential end to the Middle East conflict.

However, rising uncertainty over tech regulation, trade policy and the U.S. budget deficit is weighing on market sentiment.

Interest rate-hike worries associated with oil-linked inflation declined after crude oil prices plunged and the U.S. dollar slid following the U.S. midterm election results.

US President Donald Trump's apparent willingness to accept the poll results and work with Democrats to address political issues may have helped offset concerns about increased regulatory scrutiny under a Democrat-controlled Congress.

Several analysts also noted that a divided government, where the White House and Congress are controlled by separate parties, is often beneficial to the financial markets. In the Asian trading today, the Canadian dollar rose to 113.42 against the yen and 1.5716 against the euro, from yesterday's closing quotes of 113.32 and 1.5696, respectively. If the loonie extends its uptrend, it is likely to find resistance around 115.00 against the yen and 1.60 against the euro.

Against the U.S. and the Australian dollars, the loonie advanced to 1.3945 and 0.9797 from Wednesday's closing quotes of 1.3979 and 0.9793, respectively. The loonie may test resistance around 1.38 against the greenback and 0.99 against the aussie.

Looking ahead, Eurozone PPI for September is due to be released at 6:00 am ET in the European session.

In the New York session, U.S. weekly jobless claims data is slated for release.