Canadian Dollar at Near 4-Month Low
2026-03-31 12:54
By
Felipe Alarcon
1 min. read
The Canadian dollar weakened toward 1.395 per US dollar, the lowest since December as a broadly stronger greenback and safe haven demand overshadowed a third consecutive month of domestic economic expansion.
While a flash estimate showed the Canadian economy grew 0.2% in February behind a recovery in mining and financial services, the loonie struggled to capitalize on the growth as the US dollar strengthened amid persistent geopolitical instability.
Fears of a prolonged conflict and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz continue to underpin the greenback's status as the primary reserve currency despite a recent pullback in US Treasury yields.
Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell suggested that inflation expectations remain anchored in the long term though the potential for a larger US defense budget has led markets to price out near term rate cuts.
Consequently the loonie remains vulnerable to the diverging fiscal outlooks and the risk of a sustained supply shock in the Persian Gulf.