Canadian Dollar strengthens as US Dollar decline despite hawkish Fed outlook

USD/CAD halts its winning streak that began on June 10, trading around 1.4230 during the Asian hours on Thursday. The currency pair depreciate as the US Dollar (USD) declines despite rising market expectations of Federal Reserve (Fed) interest rate hikes later this year.

Traders are positioning for tighter monetary policy after Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh signaled a firm focus on taming inflation, noting that the broader economy remains on a stable footing. Reflecting this hawkish shift, the CME FedWatch tool shows that markets are now pricing in an 83.1% probability of rate hikes by the end of December.

Traders focus now shifts to the upcoming US Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) data release, where headline inflation is expected to heat up to 4.1% YoY in May from April's 3.8%, and core PCE is projected to edge higher to 3.4% YoY.

The commodity-linked Canadian Dollar (CAD) is struggling against its US counterpart as easing geopolitical tensions between the US and Iran cool the global oil market. Lower crude prices directly hit the Canadian economy, as Canada is the largest exporter of crude oil to the United States.

Global oil supplies are rapidly improving following breakthrough progress in US-Iran peace efforts, which has restored shipping confidence and encouraged tankers to transit the critical Strait of Hormuz with their tracking signals activated.

Underscoring this supply surge, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright stated at the Reuters Global Energy Forum in New York that roughly 20 million barrels of oil exited the Strait within a single 24-hour window, marking a clear return to normal operational flows.

Shipping data confirms this rebound, showing that three previously stranded tankers carrying 5 million barrels of crude finally exited the Gulf on Wednesday under the interim diplomatic deal. Available supply is expected to expand even further due to a temporary US waiver that permits the purchase of already-loaded Iranian oil.

Compounding the pressure on the Canadian Dollar, Canada’s 10-year government bond yield fell to a three-month low of 3.36% in late June, as signs of cooling underlying domestic inflation reinforce expectations that the Bank of Canada (BoC) will refrain from raising interest rates for the rest of the year.