Canadian dollar hits 1.4600 levels in early Asian hours

The USD/CAD pair reached the highest level since April 2003 on Friday, as the commodity-based Canadian dollar faced tremendous pressure from plummeting oil prices.

• Pair touched the 1.4605 levels in early Asian hours and currently trading around 1.4524 levels.
   
• Lower crude prices dominated the resource-linked loonie, as both benchmarks fell below the $30 level, with supply staying high and demand remaining weak.
   
• Futures for WTI plunged 5.74% to trade at $29.41 per barrel, it's lowest since November 2003, while Brent futures lost 4.37% down to $29.53 per barrel, and it's weakest since February 2004.
   
• This week will be the important week for commodity currencies. As Canadian dollar suffered most since the beginning of the New Year, talks surfaced that weak oil price could force BoC to cut rates again this week.
   
• All eyes are switching to the Bank of Canada's (BoC) interest rate announcement on Wednesday, with more and more economists predicting a 25 basis points rate cut, which would bring the rate down to a historical low of 0.25%.