TORONTO - The Canadian dollar is getting a boost from improved investor sentiment about the state of the global economy after flirting with parity last week.
The loonie added 0.81 of a cent to 101.74 cents US in Monday trading, as commodities also made gains.
Crude oil gained $1.63 to US$87.01 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Meanwhile, gold added $3.90 to US$1,746.50 per ounce and copper gained a penny to US$4.03 a pound.
Key Canadian data to be released this week will be Friday's consumer price report, which will give traders a notion of how much inflation is affecting consumer prices.
"People are paying close attention to that because after last week you definitely get the impression that Mark Carney is under no pressure to raise rates," said Gareth Watson, vice-president of investment management at Richardson GMP Ltd.
"If inflation appears to be a lot worse than expected though he might have to keep rate hikes on his radar screen."
However, he added, the currency traders are already pricing in the assumption that there will be no rate hike until 2012 at the earliest.
Other data to be released this week includes Canadian manufacturing data for June on Tuesday and wholesale sales on Wednesday, which will round out second-quarter statistics and could confirm little growth during the quarter.
Meanwhile, data out of the U.S. Monday showed manufacturing in New York has worsened in August for the third straight month.
Another report indicated that foreign investors cut their holdings of U.S. Treasury debt in June for the first time in more than a year. The decline came at a time of anxiety about whether the United States would raise its borrowing limit.
China, the biggest buyer of U.S. Treasury debt, increased its investment for a third straight month. But Japan, the second-largest buyer, along with Brazil, Russia, Hong Kong, and a group that includes the Bahamas, Bermuda, the Netherlands and the Cayman Islands cut their investments. Overall foreign holdings dropped 0.4 per cent to $4.5 trillion.
