The Canadian dollar climbed to the highest level in more than three years against its US counterpart as the recovery of the global economy gains momentum and the rally of raw materials increases demand for growth-related currencies. The currency slipped versus the euro.

May delivery for crude oil, the main export of Canada, rose 0.3 percent to $108.66 per barrel in New York after reaching earlier $109.15, the highest price since September 24, 2008. June delivery for gold gained 1.1 percent to $1,463.30 per ounce in New York. The precious metal reached previously the all-time high of $1,466.20 per ounce. The MSCI World Index advanced 0.4 percent and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.2 percent.

John Curran, a senior vice president in Toronto at CanadianForex Ltd., wrote:

It’s generally a risk-on story. This is a general U.S. dollar weakening move, which was preceded by yesterday’s Federal Open Market Committee minutes and Canada is riding the wave.

USD/CAD dropped today from 0.9636 to 0.9603 as of 21:50 GMT and reached earlier 0.9567, the lowest price since November 2007. EUR/CAD advanced from 1.3705 to 1.3766. CAD/JPY traded at 88.91 after it earlier jumped from 88.03 to 89.26, the highest level since June 2010.

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